Run might be the biggest disappointment of 2020’s movie slate. I’ve seen movies fall apart in the third act, but rarely do they fall so precipitously off a cliff like Run does. I kinda want to give this movie a do over: leave the first half of this movie alone, and just rewrite the 2nd half. As is, Run is a fun, confused question mark. I think that’s the shrug emoji, but I’m not sure.
After a traumatic birth to her daughter Chloe (Keira Allen), Diane (Sarah Paulson) is determined to enjoy every moment with her little miracle. Diane home schools Chloe, grows her own food that Diane can trust, and lives in a remote area to keep the bad things away, and keep Chloe close. She’s acting this way because Chloe is wheelchair bound, has asthma, and blood sugar issues from her complicated birth. Things are starting to reach a breaking point, as Chloe is college bound, awaiting a letter from the University of Washington, which clearly scares the bejesus out of Diane, for many reasons that become clear as you watch Run.
The first half of this movie is mostly confined to Diane and Chloe’s home, which is why the movie is so effective. Aneesh Chaganty, the director of Searching, does a great job making Chloe realize she might be a prisoner in her own home. The subtle little revelations unfurl slowly, but each little new strange wrinkle opens new tension and horrors for Chloe. Diane’s love turns into a double edged sword for her, as she raised Chloe to think outside the box and solve problems on her own, which Chloe uses on Diane herself, who is blinded by love for her daughter. The tension builds and builds until both hit their breaking point, with Chloe making bold choices and Diane resorting to more desperate and dangerous tactics toward her daughter.
But unfortunately Chaganty can’t keep the movie afloat. By the halfway point, he decided it’s time to start revealing some things. Without spoilers, I can say that the way Run shows Chloe what’s going on does not make sense with how Diane lives her life, and would have been best cut out of the film. But from that one simple mistake, the movie then takes a hard turn into full on camp territory, with Sarah Paulson REALLY going for the cuckoo for CocoaPuffs award. I wish the movie had continued to unfurl slowly and lead to a big climax. Instead, we hit the climax about an hour in, and then we have another 30 minutes involving a location change, and Sarah Paulson dialing it up even further, to the point that the grounded, terrifying story Chaganty was trying to tell becomes hairbrained nonsense, completely ruining a fantastic setup. I will say, watching Sarah Paulson go full Nick Cage is pretty fun, but that fun comes at the expense of what made Run really interesting.
Oh well, after watching Run, you’ll definitely be glad you saw parts of it, one way or another. Hulu is basically where Netflix was a couple years ago. It’s doing the right things: giving talented artists like Justin Simien and Aneesh Chaganty money to tell interesting stories. If they continue to create havens for artists, then they’ll start really making special movies in bulk. I’d love that! Not quite like Sarah Paulson’s love, but a more, you know, sane affection.