The Outrun (2024)
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A woman struggling with alcoholism returns to her home in the Orkney Islands to find healing and a new sense of purpose.
The story
Rona, a young woman recently out of rehab for alcoholism, returns home to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Her parents, originally from England, are separated, and she stays with them alternately, helping her father on his farm and meeting her mother's religious friends. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, contrasting her current life with flashbacks of her previous life as a biology graduate student in London. While she initially struggles to connect with others and faces an overwhelming urge to return to her old life, she eventually takes a job with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, beginning a systematic search for the rare corn crake.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The story is told in a non-linear fashion. Rona, a young woman recently out of rehab for alcoholism, returns home to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Her parents, originally from England, are separated, and she stays with them alternately, helping her father on his farm and meeting her mother's religious friends. Flashbacks reveal Rona's previous life as a biology graduate student in London, where she found freedom in clubbing but eventually spiraled into alcoholism, leading to a broken relationship with her boyfriend Daynin and a physical attack while drunk. After completing a 90-day sober programme, Rona returns to Orkney but feels an overwhelming urge to drink while on the ferry back to London, leading her to stay. She takes a job with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) searching for the rare corn crake. During this time, she encounters her father in a depressive state and has a brief relapse after taking a taste from his wineglass. Later, she moves to the remote Papa Westray island for a job with the RSPB. Living alone in a tiny community, she connects with a fellow alcoholic who runs the grocery. Throughout a windy winter, she develops an interest in seaweed biology and grows healthier. As she prepares to depart that spring, she hears the call of a corn crake for the first time and laughs in delight.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- Germany; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Nora Fingscheidt
- Writers
- Nora Fingscheidt · screenplay; Amy Liptrot · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Saoirse Ronan · Rona; Paapa Essiedu; Nabil Elouahabi; Izuka Hoyle; Lauren Lyle; Saskia Reeves; Stephen Dillane
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- alcoholism; recovery; nature; isolation
- Tone and mood
- moving; delicate; visceral; emotionally charged
- Setting
- Orkney Islands, Scotland, and London, England during the present day.
- Premise and plot tags
- memoir adaptation; independent film; British film; German film
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Outrun (2016 memoir by Amy Liptrot)
- Content notes
- alcoholism
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising Saoirse Ronan's performance and the delicate adaptation of the memoir.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 43
- Production trivia
- Saoirse Ronan's husband, actor Jack Lowden, was one of the film's producers.; Ronan credited Lowden for suggesting the role to her.; Production commenced in Orkney in August 2022.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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