The Outrun (Fingscheidt, 2024)

In her fourth full length feature film, German director Nora Fingscheidt adapts Amy Liptrot’s 2017 memoir The Outrun. Working closely with Liptrot, Fingscheidt had to visually show what was internal for Liptrot. It is hard to discuss The Outrun as it focuses on the true story of one woman’s battle with sobriety if one hasn’t had to go through this themselves. Perhaps then, looking at The Outrun’s film style and quality instead may be more sufficient.  

The Outrun follows Rona (Saoirse Ronan) fresh out of rehab as she returns to Orkney, her childhood home. After more than a decade of living in the hustle and bustle of London, this return to the Scottish coast brings both the wild and beautiful back to Rona’s life. Now 30-year-old, Rona must come to terms with moments in her past that led towards her struggle with addiction. As she reconnects with the wildlife and coast, she sets forward on the path of recovery. With flashbacks to periods of addiction, childhood and moments during rehab, the audiences follow along with Rona as she pieces her life back together and understands what happened that led her to where she is now. 

It can be seen that Saoirse Ronan took the role to heart and did her best to stay true to the character, and adaptation of the real Amy Liptrot. Ronan learned an Orkney accent, hinting at the Londoner’s, for her role as Rona in The Outrun. Differing from Ronan’s Irish dialect, learning this new accent for Rona grounds her character and provides audiences with a sense of ease. As the film flashes between present and past, Ronan helps audiences feel passionate towards the protagonist and hopeful for her fight with sobriety. 

While The Outrun follows an important story, it doesn’t entirely have the clearest editing choices. Perhaps, written in the memoir, there are moments in the film where Rona discusses folklore from Orkney and Scottish history. In the film, these are shown with different screen ratios, changes in the colouring of the film, as well as different animation styles. Fingscheidt is clearly trying to stay true to the lore of Liptrot’s past with these choices, but perhaps keeping them in the same style would have been more coherent when producing the final product. That being said, including the Scottish lore and childhood stories, made for an even deeper connection to our protagonist. 

Trying to do its best to focus on the struggle with alcoholism, The Outrun considers that Rona’s journey does not follow one straight line. It uses technical aspects of filmmaking to intensify Rona’s feelings in each scene. Though The Outrun is not a perfect depiction of the struggles of addiction, it does its best to take Liptrot’s memoir and turn it visual for audiences. 

Nora Fingscheidt's The Outrun is out in UK cinemas now and releases in the US and Canada October 4th.

Photo credits to The Guardian and Rotten Tomatoes.