Run Sweetheart Run Review

PLOT: After what begins as the perfect first date with a dreamy bachelor, a single mom finds herself hunted by a seemingly unstoppable assailant in this terrifying dark thriller.

REVIEW: Run Sweetheart Run takes the idea of a date gone terribly wrong and turns up the dial as far it’ll go. It’s a cool setup and there are plenty of interesting ways to take the story. Whether or not they did that will be up to the individual because I think this will be a divisive one. There are some very interesting concepts here but there are also very tired ones. So tolerance for such things will be a big factor going into this one.

The movie starts with a very charming date between Cherie (Ella Balinska) and Ethan (Pilou Asbæk). I didn’t know much about the film going into it, so if I didn’t know better, I could have almost been tricked into thinking this was a romantic comedy. One really interesting they do with Cherie is give her a newborn baby. Usually, these “single working girl in the city” stories follow the same type of bossgirl type, so this was refreshing. Balinska does a good job in the role, even if she’s mostly just acting scared for the majority of it.

Anyone who’s seen some Game of Thrones knows that Pilou Asbæk has got some scary charisma. So the idea of him being an evil dude that’s hunting down a girl makes all the sense in the world. He is clearly having a blast with the role and is the absolute star of the film. As much as I know actors don’t like to be typecast, I could watch Pilou be a bad guy for the rest of his career and be very satisfied. Clark Gregg and Betsy Brandt show up in brief roles and are gone way too soon.

There’s been a continuing trend in films that show cops not representing help or justice. All too often the police of the past were treated as these white knights that will solve whatever situation that comes their way. But Run Sweetheart Run treats them as simply tired guys working a job. It gets rid of the question “Well why doesn’t she just call the police?” by showing their ineptitude early. There’s some “woke” messaging that is sure to ruffle some feathers but I think it’s more of the execution than the message that doesn’t work.

One aspect I really disliked is how everyone that Cherie interacts with seems to have some kind of knowledge of her situation. The girl in jail, the taxi driver, all of them know information that is a little too coincidental for comfort. This feels like very lazy writing and not at all necessary to tell the story being told. Especially when she finally meets someone who could really use that information. Instead of telling them right away, she just avoids the topic for as long as possible. It’s extremely frustrating and was a big turning point in getting me to dislike her character.

I really enjoyed the first half of Run Sweetheart Run where it’s more of a one-on-one cat-and-mouse chase. But the more elements that are introduced, the more the horror is devalued. By the time the third act came around, I had completely lost interest. There’s a twist that happens in the third act that’s been done no less than three different times this year. While I won’t spoil it here, you likely won’t be surprised when it happens. I’m sure there are going to be people that like it, but I can’t count myself among them. What starts as a well-grounded thriller ends as CGI-fest with a strange message.

Run Sweetheart Run is STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME ON OCTOBER 28TH, 2022.

Run Sweetheart Run

AVERAGE

6