2024   Sony Pictures

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  58min

Drama

Directed by:  Nora Fingscheidt

Starring:  Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Nabil Elouahabi, Izuka Hoyle, Lauren Lyle, Saskia Reeves, and Stephen Dillane.

“It never gets easy……just less hard.”

The Book:

The Outrun: A Memoir by Amy Liptrot ~ October 11, 2018

When Amy Liptrot returns to Orkney after more than a decade away, she is drawn back to the Outrun on the sheep farm where she grew up. Approaching the land that was once home, memories of her childhood merge with the recent events that have set her on this journey.

Amy was shaped by the cycle of the seasons, birth and death on the farm, and her father’s mental illness, which were as much a part of her childhood as the wild, carefree existence on Orkney. But as she grew up, she longed to leave this remote life. She moved to London and found herself in a hedonistic cycle. Unable to control her drinking, alcohol gradually took over. Now thirty, she finds herself washed up back home on Orkney, standing unstable at the cliff edge, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London.

Spending early mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, the days tracking Orkney’s wildlife―puffins nesting on sea stacks, arctic terns swooping close enough to feel their wings―and nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy slowly makes the journey toward recovery from addiction.

The Outrun is a beautiful, inspiring book about living on the edge, about the pull between island and city, and about the ability of the sea, the land, the wind, and the moon to restore life and renew hope.

The Movie:

After living life on the edge in London, Rona (Saoirse Ronan) attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands — where she grew up — hoping to heal. Returning from London to her childhood home in Orkney, Rona finds solace in the remote island as she processes years of family trauma and addiction. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot, it was shot completely on location in The Orkney Islands of Scotland. Many of the locals of The Orkney Islands were used as actors and played supporting roles in the film.

The Review:

It is one of those True Story movies and you know I like those. This is the true story of someone battling and trying to overcome Alcoholism and Addiction. That is never a pretty picture, and as such, this movie won’t be for everyone. If you have lived, so to speak, or have a loved one that is or has battled in that war, you will relate to this movie. It is a personal battle based in a very beautiful location. The scenery in the movie is beautiful, the cliffs, the untamed ocean beating against the island, the wind howling like a banshee….Rugged, isolated, barren…but beautiful serenity.

I remember seeing The Lovely Bones but didn’t realize that she was the same actress that played in Hanna. Hanna is one of my favorite movies and I really like Saoirse Ronan in that movie. I remember seeing the name starring in this movie The Outrun and thinking that sounds familiar. Wait, I know that face, I have seen her but where? That’s Hanna grown up. She has also recently been in Blitz, Foe, See How They Run and The French Dispatch, none of which I have seen. Blitz is on Apple TV+ and Foe is on Amazon Prime…I might watch Foe tonight.

So I am a Saoirse Ronan fan and think she did a good job with this movie. You could see and feel her pain as she navigates the remnants of her life ravaged by addiction, and through solitude and isolation works to rebuild her life. I liked the movie and the scenery is beautiful, and even in her ugliest, deepest moments Saoirse’s inner beauty and spirit shine through and make this a captivating performance.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!