I really must visit Orkney one day. Rona (Saoirse Ronan) returns to her childhood home there, after her life in London catastrophically loses focus. It’s a rural, isolated, peaceful, yet brutal existence on the island. Windswept scenery peppered with sheep. Beautiful really, but Rona is lost and lonely. Her return is temporary she tells herself, just a pause until she returns to the city to restart her life. Orkney frustrates her, her family frustrate her, well her mum at least, too much religion and knitwear. Her relationship is better with her father (Stephen Dillane), a real outdoors type, he has his own issues that Rona can relate to, but she misses the drinking in London, the mass of people, the clubs, the excitement, the drinking, the hedonism, Daynin (Paapa Essiedu). The drinking. This is why she’s come home. To stay sober. Rona tries to find a sense of peace, narrating a sort of poetic inner monologue as she connects with the expanse of nature that surrounds her, but the pull of addiction is strong. The Outrun splits the two timelines of Rona’s life and intercuts them. Flashbacks showing us just how bad things got, before she found help. There’s no denying it’s bleak, but it’s not depressing. It’s authentic, Ronan channels Rona’s strengths and weaknesses brilliantly in a touching portrayal of how depression and alcohol can tear into a life mercilessly. Removing temptation on weather beaten remote islands seems like a good idea. I get it, stripping life back to its basics. Food and shelter… and purpose. Time. That’s the killer isn’t it. Finding something constructive to do with it, rather than destructive. There’s no fluff here, no surface sheen. It’s raw, honest, rich in humanity, frank and brilliant. “In grandiose moments, high on fresh air and freedom on the hill, I study my personal geology. My body is a continent.” Despite feeling understated, it’s a big and bold film. A magnificent story of the importance of connection and it brought me to tears of pure joy. I really must visit Orkney.
7/10
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