Movie Review: 'Run' Finally Debuts on Hulu

Run is one of many 2020 movie releases that was hit hard by COVID-19 schedule shuffling. I first wrote about Run back in March when the film was set to be released in theaters over the Mother’s Day weekend in May. Then the theaters shutdown due to COVID-19 and the movie release schedule became a game of whack-o-mole with movies bouncing from one weekend to the next in search of time when audiences would be willing to leave the house again and brave the movie theater.

In the end, the makers of Run ended up skipping theatrical release all together and have now ended up in the world of streaming video. Hulu bought the rights to release Run not long after the movie missed its planned release date and have now decided to put the film onto the streaming service starting on Friday, November 20th. It was a big get for Hulu but will people find Run amid the clutter of so many streaming movies? Here's hoping so.

Run stars Sarah Paulsen as Diane and newcomer Kiera Allen as her daughter, Chloe. Chloe was born prematurely and that has left her with a number of long term ailments including heart problems, diabetes, asthma and more. Chloe is confined to a wheelchair and Diane has, for the most part, kept Chloe locked away from the rest of the world by having her home schooled and by living in the middle of nowhere in a woodsy portion of the state of Washington.

The only regular visitor in all of Chloe’s life is the local mailman who has become the focal point of Chloe’s everyday life. Chloe hopes that the mailman will one day deliver her acceptance letter from the University of Washington, her dream school. Chloe also dreams of no longer living at home under her mother’s constant watch and care. That said, Chloe loves and trusts her mother so much that she doesn’t question the almost constant surveillance.

This begins to change as Diane begins to keep Chloe from getting to the mail before her. Why? Why would she not allow Chloe to get the mail? Then, Chloe discovers a new medication that her mother has brought home, one that doesn’t match any of Chloe’s known ailments. Where did this come from and why did her mother very clearly lie about the pills not being prescribed to Chloe but instead, to Diane?

There is a great deal more to the story but I will stop there as I do not want to spoil a movie that I greatly enjoyed. Now, I will say that I did predict the ending of Run without much effort and went into the movie, smug in the notion of how much smarter I am for knowing the ending without knowing the ending. The film played out almost exactly how I expected it to except for how expertly directed the movie is. The film is still tense, even if you do predict the action.

While the story is deeply flawed and predictable, I cannot praise the director, Aneesh Chaganty enough for taking a predictable plot and still finding ways to draw creepy chills from this story. The pacing of Run is relentless and the scene choices are spot on with each carrying a suitable amount of heightened, anxious, tension. It’s a really terrific piece of direction that is aided by the casting of the steely, icy and bracing, Sarah Paulson as Diane.

That said, the stand out of stand outs in Run is newcomer Kiera Allen. Allen is tremendously sympathetic and relatable. She’s authentic and you cannot help becoming wrapped up in her plight even as you can clearly see where the story is headed. Allen even gives hints at a potentially dark ending that creates what little suspense the movie is capable of given its highly predictable nature.

If there is one big drawback, aside from the predictability, it’s a question that I would like to ask everyone who makes movies like Run: Why does the villain always keep evidence of their guilt just laying around, always to be found? What’s that about? Once you see what the villain of Run is hiding you won’t be able to stop asking: Why did they decide to keep that when it so obviously illustrates their guilt?

The answer is because filmmakers feel that we, the audience, may not be able to follow the action and twists of the story if they aren’t spelled out as specifically as possible. It’s a shame we can’t be trusted but, then again, we all know plenty of people who are just not bright enough that such convenience in storytelling is needed in order to tell the story and satisfy the masses. At least Run is enough of a good movie that I don’t mind the pandering so much.

Run debuts on Hulu on Friday, November 20th.