Saoirse Ronan stars in “The Outrun.” Credit: Sony Pictures Classics via TNS
Movies that open to broad critical acclaim and become synonymous with popular culture often win the biggest awards and garner the most praise.
Still, these instant successes often crumble and corrode under the beating waves of time, allowing for undervalued gems to wash ashore and more firmly grasp the thread of film’s zeitgeist.
In a year of films in which headlines have been dominated by vast epics like “Dune: Part Two” or Oscar favorites like Edward Berger’s papal thriller “Conclave,” “The Outrun” proves to be the most emotional, intimate and human story to hit theaters this season.
“The Outrun,” an adaptation of the bestselling memoir of the same name from author Amy Liptrot, follows Rona, a fictionalized character based on Liptrot, as she reflects on her fight with addiction and retreats to the remote Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland in search of solitude.
In the film, Saoirse Ronan (“Ladybird,” “Little Women”) plays Rona, a young woman fresh out of both university and rehab who tries to rediscover the meaning in her life that’s been stripped away by alcohol abuse.
In the movie as in the book, no gruesome detail of the protagonist’s international battle against addiction is spared. This isn’t an airbrushed, neatly packaged examination of alcoholism; rather, the depiction of Rona’s addiction is as harsh and unforgiving as the landscape of the Scottish isle, leaving no stone unturned or heart-wrenching detail omitted.
“The Outrun” clicks on every level, using the medium of cinema to its fullest extent, enveloping the senses in an immersive awe. The beautiful, deep teals of the ocean and burning oranges of fire interconnect with Rona’s changing hair colors, symbolizing not only her symbiotic relationship with the Orkney Islands, but also constructing the film’s shots in a beautifully balanced manner.
Saying that Ronan delivers the best performance of her career, a compliment not to be taken lightly given her esteemed record, still doesn’t do her turn as Rona justice. Her depiction is so raw, so vulnerable and so personal that it deserves to be admitted into the conversation surrounding best performances of the century, and surely re-establishes her as the best actress of her generation.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of “The Outrun” lies in its sound design, with crashing waves and deep rumbles that feel so real the audience can almost smell the saltwater.
In an interview with The Lantern, Gregor Bonse, the re-recording mixer for the film, said having the sound function narratively to convey Rona’s inner emotions — and prose that may be lost when a book is adapted to screen — was crucial.
“We felt like our job in sound was to bring some of Rona’s inner struggles to the surface and to allow an audience to feel them too, let them experience what she experiences: the overwhelming urge to drink,” Bonse said.
Bonse went on to emphasize the pivotal importance of the sound design in “The Outrun.” He said the sound used throughout the film goes beyond that of typical movies, playing a more narrative role in the film.
“Sound design starts in screenwriting,” Bonse said. “I am a firm believer that sound has to come from within a story instead of being layered on top in retrospect. We try to find sonic manifestations of a story, and that can be quite a difficult task sometimes, a task that is usually on us entirely, but in this case, we were working with a screenwriter and director who thinks a lot about sound and who really wanted to make use of it from the start.”
“The Outrun” is spiritual in more than a conventional religious way, circumventing broad theological structures to focus instead on Rona’s connection with her home island and the folklore surrounding it.
The film is also unapologetically aware of the fact that there’s no one right way to beat vices, and Rona finds more solace in becoming synonymous with the island’s living pulse than in traditional rehabilitation programs.
Due to the film’s deeply idiosyncratic nature, including its non-linear narrative structure, it’s fully understandable that its story may not be as effective for some audiences.
But for the moviegoer who sits on the edge of their seat in the theater, staring up at a reflection of themselves on the silver screen, “The Outrun” is a triumph of film’s ability to help people process difficult emotions in a way no other medium can.
Rating: 5/5
