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The Outrun Movie Review

The Outrun is a 2024 drama film directed by Nora Fingscheidt and starring Saoirse Ronan. It’s a wildly uneven, but moving and well performed drama.

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“I miss it. I miss how good it made me feel“

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After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to Scotland’s Orkney Islands where she grew up, hoping to heal. This movie doesn’t have the most original plot you can think of. In fact, it’s quite standard for an indie drama. Dealing with addiction and finding yourself are familiar themes explored numerous times in similar films.

With that being said, I still really enjoyed this drama because it’s so well acted and actually quite emotionally engaging. It also benefits from a setting that we haven’t seen before in cinema, which lent it a lot of uniqueness. The film’s setting went well with the themes of rebirth and the power of nature to heal humans psychologically. The cinematography is terrific and some of the shots were downright transcendent. I also liked the score.

But of course if The Outrun should be seen for one thing alone, that would have to be for the central performance from Saoirse Ronan. This actress is still so young and she continues to deliver incredible performances every time she acts in a film. This is one of her better and most underrated works.

Rona isn’t the best-developed character out there, but she imbued the role with a lot of nuance, emotion and strength. She’s so charismatic and actually quite believable. I didn’t see a rich actress, which was crucial for this type of role. Her blue hair made for a very memorable look.

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But the other characters left a lot to be desired and the movie’s structure is a flawed one. This film certainly did not need to have a non-linear narrative. It was pointless and it only took away from my enjoyment of the film. It led to very chaotic editing and pacing. If it had been edited regularly, I would have preferred it much more, but this way it was unfocused and haphazard.