Sometimes we must look back in order to move forward. A phrase that echoes at the heart of The Outrun, the adaptation of Amy Liptrott’s memoir that opened this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The character of Rona returns to her childhood home in the Orkney Islands to process her recovery from the alcohol addiction that consumed her twenties, and her closest relationships.
Rona’s mind and emotional state is mirrored by the extreme weather that affects the islands. A sea of reflective calm one moment, a swirling tempest of rage and anger the next.
During the film, the audience is given fleeting flashbacks to damage she did to herself, along with the pain and misery she caused to others including her partner. It is as though Rona is too guilty or ashamed to go back to that place. That to spend too much time remembering the person that loved drinking so much, it could tempt her back.
One of the saddest lines in the film is when she rather matter-of-factly tells another member of her detox programme that “I can’t be happy sober”.
It harks back to the opening of the film where Rona narrates the tale of the Selkies. Seal-like creatures who dance in human form on the beaches of Orkney at night, but if seen by a person, they are destined to live their life trapped in that body. Discontented and lost forever.
Rona was someone deeply unhappy in herself, drinking to escape her life. It is only when she allows herself to reintegrate with nature that a glimmer of hope and sunlight begins to take over her soul.
It is a challenging watch. Not only due to the subject matter but also due to the film’s structure. Liptrott’s memoir was never an automatic fit for a big screen adaptation. It is part recovery memoir, part nature essay. It moves forward and backwards in time as memories are unlocked through experiences on the island.
Director and screenwriter Nora Fingschiedt (System Crasher) worked with Liptrott to take her story and build a narrative cohesiveness and structure to her raw and powerful confessional.
Whilst the timeline of events can sometimes remain confusing, audiences will be transfixed and carried along every step on Rona’s road to recovery by the screen presence of Saoirse Ronan.
Only just turned thirty this year, Ronan already has four Oscar nominations to her name. With a fifth arguably on the way based on the evidence here. She continues to prove why she is the greatest actress of her generation. Delivering a tour-de-force performance that runs the full gamut of emotions. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The grief she feels for her life is felt in full force. In particular the scenes with her partner Daynin (Paapa Essiedu). The pain he feels, helpless at her behaviour, is heartbreaking.
No one can outrun their past. Rona must emerge from the dark and embrace the light. The stark, cool cinematography breathes life into every stunning frame of the film. You’ll truly believe that you can find yourself at the edge of the world.
The Outrun is an, at times, bleak but ultimately uplifting film, anchored by Saoirse Ronan’s stunning central performance.
The Outrun is in UK cinemas from September 27
Rating: 
Director: Nora Fingschiedt
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane, Paapa Essiedu, Lauren Lyle, Izuka Hoyle
Runtime: 118 minutes
Country: UK/Germany
