In the first few moments of writer/director Aneesh Chaganty’s (Searching) sophomore feature Run we are introduced to a list of medical conditions, an extremely loving mother and a very ill child. Moments later we are taken into the future and watch the mother, Diane (American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson) make a declaration of her daughter’s strength and resourcefulness at a group meeting of parents preparing to send their homeschooled children off to college. Diane’s daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen in a star making feature film debut) is an intelligent young woman who doesn’t let her asthma, diabetes, difference in physical ability, or any other assorted medical conditions weigh down her ambitions. Chloe uses her wheelchair to to accomplish tasks around her large home as she excitedly prepares to hear back from her primary college choice, University of Washington. Slowly she begins to notice something strange is happening in her house and a disturbing mystery starts to unfold.
So begins a white knuckle twist filled tribute to Hitchcock and Shyamalan that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll. One of my favorite films to premiere out of NIGHTSTREAM Fest, Chaganty pulls out all the stops to craft a masterwork in tension. The actors, both veteran and new, are at the top of their game with complex performances that allow them space to make interesting choices. Allen is a joy to watch and her theatre background is evident in her unquestionable skill displayed in scene after scene. Paulson’s reputation is already indisputable but if you want more proof look to a scene where Diane appears to be making a phone call in the kitchen to understand just what kind of talent she can bring to a film. On top of all of this the production is top notch. Every shot looks beautiful, every light and shadow serves a purpose, and every prop or detail of the set drives forward plotlines or hints at deeper themes.
Chaganty recently appeared on the “Lockdown Filmmaking” episode of The Letterboxd Show podcast and during that conversation, as well as the Q and A that followed the world premiere at NIGHTSTREAM, he not only sparked excitement for his next project, (a “heist film set against the backdrop of the immigration industry,” apparently,) but alluded to some of the subtext prevalent throughout Run. From the in-your-face points of characters being stuck inside and a young person uncertain about what college is going to look like this year, to repeated lines like, “When’s the last time we saw a movie?” this is truly the film that best embodies 2020. Even fake movie titles on the theater marquee in town, (Fake News was a personal favorite,) and the importance of the U.S. Postal Service (The Innkeepers’ Pat Healy!) come into play to make sure no aspect of our current social or political landscape goes untouched, and though the movie was shot in Winnipeg, Canada it is every one of these little details that makes the film feel particularly timely and relevant to Americans, especially with a presidential election looming in the near future.
By the film’s jaw-dropping ending some things still remain unanswered but Chaganty stated during the Q and A that this was an intentional decision to give the audience just enough to reach their own conclusions, and none of the missing pieces felt like a detriment to the completion of the story. Make no mistake, all of the parts are there, it just might take repeated screenings to pick up every one of them. But with the director’s added remarks that there are both subtle connections to plotlines carried over from Searching as well as roots to whatever his next feature is called, it seems like the film deserves to be viewed multiple times anyway. And if all of these fingerprints don’t make the mystery worth checking out, just come for an excellent film.
