Run is a psychological horror drama starring Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. The premise of Run is very Stephen King-inspired as it involves a protagonist being kept captive by an antagonist, that happens to be a caregiver. Quite similar to King’s Misery except that instead of author and psychotic fan, we get daughter and psychotic mother.
Run is chock full of your typical horror tropes and after a while it very much becomes spot-the-horror-trope! Let’s see, there’s the “things are not as they seem” trope. Which is basically the first act of Run, as we are introduced to young Chloe Sherman (Allen), a paraplegic teenager suffering from a host of serious ailments (including asthma) who is homeschooled and kept away from the world by her mother Diane (Paulson).
But once Chloe realises that the medication her mother has been dispensing to her all these years are actually doing her harm, that’s where the true narrative kicks off as Chloe fights for dear life to escape her mother. This is where the Misery comparisons really come to play as Chloe struggles to free herself from captivity. The movie makes full use of her disabilities as obstacles to her quest though sometimes a bit too much reliance is made.
Things come to head as Chloe takes drastic action to bring mother and daughter into the final act as Chloe and Diane fight to gain the upper hand in this power struggle. For Chloe, of course, it is her freedom that is at stake and at the climax, there is a powerful step (literally) taken by Chloe to finally resolve her problem.
Run is easy enough to digest, the type of lightweight horror that the whole family can enjoy. Paulson is at her usual ferocious self, giving as good as she gets in her psychotic role. Allen revels in her girl-next-door performance, coping well with the physical demands of the role, much like James Caan did in Misery.
A rather slight Run (sorry….) in the final analysis. Check it out if you have nothing better to watch.
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