THE OUTRUN
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt
With Saoirse Ronan
2024, UK/Germany, 118 minutes, rated R
Based on the best-selling memoir by Amy Liptrot, THE OUTRUN is set in the otherworldly Orkney islands of Scotland. A brutally honest drama about addiction and recovery, strength and survival, mental health and the ability of the sea, the land and of people to restore life and renew hope. After a decade away in London, 29-year-old Rona returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey of recovery. Slowly the mystical land enters her inner world and – one day at a time – Rona finds hope and strength in herself among the heavy gales and the bracingly cold sea.
Discussion after the film with Emily Feiner LCSW, a social worker with extensive experience in the areas of substance use disorders, mood disorders, and trauma.
“Saoirse Ronan has made it apparent that she is one of the greatest actresses of her generation. Nominated for four Oscars before she was out of her mid-20s, the Irish actress is the sort of performer whose presence in a movie is sufficient reason to see it. She chooses her projects carefully, often movies about complex women, and throws her whole self into them, with unforgettable results. But how she does what she does is harder to pin down.” Critic’s Pick – NY Times