At some point during ‘’The Outrun,’’ it occurred to me that watching Saoirse Ronan act is a bit like looking into a magnifying glass: Everything somehow feels a bit clearer, sharper, more precise.
This singular actor gives one of her finest performances in a two-hour study of addiction that is poignant, sometimes beautiful but always painful to watch — and would likely be too draining if not for the luminous presence at its core. Would it even work — at all — if Ronan, who also makes her producing debut here, weren't onscreen virtually every second?
Luckily, we don't need to imagine that. Ronan, who plays a 29-year-old biology student named Rona (the name comes from a tiny island off Scotland) serves as both star and narrator, speaking the words — sometimes poetic — of the addiction memoir by Amy Liptrot. The script, adapted by Liptrot and director Nora Fingscheidt, makes frequent use of fantasy and whimsy, even veering into animation. Some may find these deviations a distraction from the plot, but they are frequently mesmerizing.
Besides, plot is a loosely defined thing here. We go back and forth in time so frequently that sometimes only the changing color of Rona's hair indicates where we are on the timeline. It takes a while to get used to this, but the uncertainty starts to make sense. We are, in a way, inside Rona's mind, experiencing the fits and starts of her journey. And recovery is hardly a linear process.
There's a fine supporting cast, but the true second star is nature itself. The film is based mainly in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, a windswept landscape that can be both punishing and restorative. It can also be stunning, especially the sea. And the sea is where we start, learning that Orkney lore holds that when someone drowns, they turn into a seal, but at night they return ashore in human form and dance until dawn.
We see a seal underwater, and then we see Ronan herself dancing — bathed in red light on a dance floor — and then falling down, blind drunk.
After this flashback, we learn Rona has come back home to her childhood home for an extended visit, after a decade in London, where addiction took hold and ruined her relationships — especially with thoughtful boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu), who achieved success as she disintegrated.
From nightlife in Hackney, London, to a sheep farm in Scotland, where the days of sobriety are ticked off for us — 30, 90, 117. The challenges here are different. Rona's father, Andrew (Stephen Dillane), is loving but suffers bipolar episodes. Due to his debilitating illness he lives away from his wife, Annie (Saskia Reeves), who has turned to religion to cope — and that's the only solution she can offer Rona.
