Healing is hard
The Outrun features on my 2024 movies you might have missed list, and for good reason.
Plot Summary of The Outrun (Spoiler-Free)
The Outrun follows Rona (played by Saoirse Ronan), a woman nearing her thirties whose life has become tangled in heavy drinking, heartbreak, and self-destruction, where she has been living in London, caught up in a party scene that promised freedom but delivered chaos.
After hitting what feels like bottom more than once, Rona decides to go back to where she came from, the wind-blasted islands of Orkney in Northern Scotland, where she’s surrounded by familiar landscapes.
She takes up work monitoring birds for an environmental group and tries to rebuild the scraps of her life, where flashbacks to her London years play out in parallel to her attempt at recovery, and the film moves between past and present, temptation and solitude, destruction and small moments of repair.
It’s a portrait of someone trying to outrun the part of herself that she thinks she left behind—except it’s not that simple.
The Outrun Review: Is It Worth Watching?
The Outrun is honest in a way many stories about addiction only strive for, and it’s a film doing something different, that doesn’t pretend recovery is tidy.
Saoirse Ronan is fantastic as Rona, and you believe she danced until dawn, you believe she staggered home broken, and you believe she stands in the cold wind wondering if she’ll ever belong again.
The visuals are also gorgeous, as you’ll want to fall into the Orkney scenes, breathe the sea air, hear the wind, even shiver at how exposed everything is, and the filmmakers clearly didn’t settle for “pretty scenery” alone, as there’s a real grit in the approach where London is sharp and crammed, Orkney is spacious but unforgiving.
The narrative structure did throw me a few times though, as the film doesn’t go straight, as there are flashbacks, jumps in time, moments where I wasn’t always sure whether we were in the present or the past.
And that’s the point of Rona’s life, as it is not linear, as trust slips, memory blurs, habits circle back, so the editing echoes that, and while some might find that disorienting (and they’d be right), it also adds to the mood of being in someone’s head rather than watching from the outside.
I also have to mention the part that strays from the typical “addiction movie.”
It’s easy for films in this genre to go heavy on the crash, heavy on the moralising, and heavy on the final redemption, but The Outrun sidesteps much of that, as while the “rock bottom” moment is there, the film cares more about the days after.
Some scenes felt too “film-y” though – by which I mean moments where the aesthetic threatened to overshadow the character – and one sequence in the final act aimed so hard for transcendence that I lost sight of Rona and just watched style, as I wanted her story, not a metaphor for her story.
And for all the beauty of the Orkney scenes, you sometimes sense the film picks the “majestic shot” rather than the “true shot” of isolation, and if I’m honest, the pacing does slow a bit too much in places.
But overall, The Outrun is film that is worth your time, as it combines remarkable acting, beautiful visuals, and a portrayal of addiction that doesn’t cheat.
It asks you to stay with someone when she is messy and unsure, and in doing so, you might find yourself staying with your own mess a little longer than you thought you would.
What I Liked (And What I Didn’t Like)
Pros
Saoirse Ronan
Visceral, unpredictable, empathetic, and she makes you feel like you’re inside Rona’s skin.
The Orkney Setting
Gorgeous, wild, unpredictable.
Honest Depiction of Addiction
No quick fixes, no tidy endings, as it’s messy and awkward, and that’s the point.
Visuals
The cinematography is genuinely stunning.
Non-linear Storytelling
Risky, but it mirrors Rona’s fractured mental state perfectly.
Tone
Melancholic but hopeful – it’s serious but never self important.
Cons
Pacing Dips
The middle section drags a bit.
Style Over Substance Moments
A few scenes feel like they were shot for a travel ad rather than a story about recovery.
Overreaching Final Act
The climax tries too hard to be profound.
Emotional Coolness
At times, I felt the movie was observing Rona instead of letting me feel with her.
Who Might Like The Outrun
- People who appreciate slow burn, character-driven dramas
- Viewers who enjoy reflective, emotionally layered stories
- Fans of Saoirse Ronan (she’s worth it alone)
- Anyone interested in stories about recovery, nature, and self-rediscovery
- Fans of moody cinematography and beautiful landscapes
- People who like films that make them think afterward
Who Might Dislike The Outrun
- Those who prefer fast-paced or clearly structured stories
- People who dislike “slow” movies or long silences
- Those who want full closure for every subplot
- Anyone who dislikes symbolism or ambiguity
- People looking for an easy, uplifting watch
Final Verdict: Did I Enjoy Watching The Outrun?
The Outrun is one of those films that leaves you quietly staring at the screen for a bit before getting up, and if you like stories that make you feel something,The Outrun is absolutely worth it.
Just don’t expect to leave smiling.
The Outrun Trailer
Simon Leasher
A lover of cinema for over 35 years, I have watched many films from around the world in many different genres, yet I still normally always come back to trashy slasher horror films when in doubt. More
And yes, The Godfather 2 is better than The Godfather.
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