RUN | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Aneesh Chaganty (PG-13, 89 mins)
A psychological horror story that engages with the disarming and deeply troubling condition of FDIA: factitious disorder imposed on another, also known as Munchausen by proxy syndrome and perhaps most infamously presented in the story of DeeDee and her sustained abuse of her daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Run explores an unusually twisted relationship between mother and daughter.
Sarah Paulson (Ratched, American Horror Story: Asylum, Freakshow) is a tour de force. She plays Diane Sherman, a concerned parent whose daughter Chloe is born prematurely and has to be put into an incubator. Surrounded by the hospital staff, there seems to be no great cause for concern, but Diane is hiding a huge secret. Cut to Chloe, years later as a teenager and played by Kiera Allen – now in a wheelchair, she’s homeschooled but offered places at prestigious universities. She begins to discover the prolonged poisoning to which she is being exposed, courtesy of a muscle relaxant meant for dogs. When Chloe goes searching, her mother cuts off her means of communication with the outside world. A number of critically difficult conversations occur, until a later revelation taking us back to those moments in the hospital.
Although the language is moderate, the themes Run covers are highly controversial and should be discussed by young adults in terms of how these difficult sociological issues affect these relationships, which are intense and are portraying heightened realities.
Out now via Netflix
words BILLIE INGRAM-SOFOKLEOUS