by Nick Taylor
After a strong premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, we have our first trailer for The Outrun from Sony Pictures Classics, directed by Nora Fingscheidt and starring international sensation Saoirse Ronan. The film has been seen as a possible contender for Best Actress 2024 since January, something no one wants to hear before the 2023 Oscars have even been handed out. But now we’re past the halfway mark of 2024’s cinematic year, and as the prestige-y vehicle and awards hopefuls start revving up their engines, we now have the time and patience to discuss Best Actress awards. At long last.
Trailer and first reactions below the cut...
YES
- Saoirse Ronan! In a meaty leading role unlike the type of characters we’ve seen her play before! Addiction dramas can be an easy shortcut for performers to earn praise just for “going there”, whether or not they actually “get there”, but I do trust Ronan to deliver a sensitive dossier on another young woman caught between too many versions of herself. Between this and Blitz, I’m psyched to see so much of her on the big screen.
- It’s also really nice to hear her in her natural Irish brogue. As a fake fan who had better things to do than watch Foe and See How They Run, I didn’t realize how much I missed that until now.
- We’ll find out whether all the different hair dyes and wardrobes Ronan wears are actually reflective of a transformative personality or just obvious shorthands for CHANGE!, but I do like how many styles she has, and how cozy those clothes look. The hair does also remind a bitch of Lady Bird, and that’s always a good thing.
- I’d never heard of cinematographer Yunus Roy Imer before, but I already appreciate how colorful the trailer looks. Keeping the pops of color in Ronan’s hair even against the rough Irish seas or urban cityscapes, I really hope The Outrun looks this good in theaters.
NO
- I know I say this in like, all of these featurettes that I’ve done, but where is this supporting cast in this trailer? Brief glimpses of Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillaine are welcome, but this can’t just be Saoirse acting all by herself for two hours. She’s too good at connecting with her co-stars for that sort of nonsense.
- Sundance buzz has to be among the most fickle buzz imaginable. Are the people who liked this under the Utah sun still going to think it’s good in a couple months?
- There is, perhaps, a danger that Ronan gives us Ammonite 2.0, where she’s sad on the shoreline and too inward-facing for anyone’s own good. I hope not! But you never know.
- Listen, awards are fake and art is immortal, but if Ronan is aces here and Blitz, please do not let them cancel each other out and leave Ronan unrecognized all season.
MAYBE SO
- How familiar are y’all with writer/director Nora Fingscheidt’s previous films? I haven’t seen The Unforgivable or System Crashers, although it sounds like her shorts have generally received better reception than her feature films. Are we expecting this to be yet another Best Actress contender where the director is almost a polite afterthought?
- On a similar note, who has read The Outrun? The summary of Amy Liptrot’s prize-winning memoir as a mixture of recovery journal, travelog, and nature study is intriguing. Liptrot’s own involvement in co-writing the screenplay will hopefully mean her book’s idiosyncrasies are preserved, but keeping the author on board doesn’t always connote a great adaptation.
- Animal imagery? Not always it. Getting to spend time swimming with seals and sheeping with sheep? Always welcome.
I mean, the answer is YES for Ronan and her incredibly cozy-looking knitwear, MAYBE for the film itself. I have more feeling for other films, but sometimes a great actressing showcase is all I really need, and I hope The Outrun is able to provide that.
The Outrun is currently slated for release in the UK on September 27 and in the US on October 4. What are your thoughts on The Outrun? And how do you think Best Actress might turn out?