See How They Run Movie (2022) Review & Summary: Saoirse Ronan shines in this Agatha Cristie Adaptation

See How They Run is a perfect murder mystery. While we definitely did not know who was the murderer but it was secondary in the plot. With a cast that is a critic’s heaven, the movie is a self-aware parody.
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See How They Run (2022) Movie Review & Summary

See How They Run (2022) is directed by Tom George and released on 9th September in theatres everywhere. It can now be streamed on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and HBO. The movie has a run time of 98 mins.

See How They Run (2022) Cast

  1. Saoirse Ronan as Constable Stalker
  2. Sam Rockwell as Inspector Stoppard
  3. Adrien Brody as Leo Kopernick
  4. Ruth Wilson as Petula Spencer

See How They Run (2022) Plot Summary

A film director was hired to recreate a famous theatre production on the big screen. On the 100th day of the theatre production, he breathed his last. The murder led to a halt in the theatre. For Stalker and Stoppard, solving the case isn’t just a matter of justice but also of haste as the production cannot be halted for long.

See How They Run (2022) Review

Self-aware is an attractive quality that extends to people also. Movies that indulge in meta themes and breaking fourth walls are truly my favorite. They are so much fun and engaging and most of the time it is the simplest recipe for assured comedy brilliance. The finest example is evidently Fleabag. No one does introspective humor better than Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Her use of the fourth wall is priceless. There is a whole other article about this.

Another favorite movie tool is adapting Agatha Christie’s novels. Directors love it, the audience loves it and because of that, the producers love the box office movies. Take the genius of Knives Out for example. The cast is out of the world, something akin to the likes of The Gentlemen but it is great because the audience knew who the killer was from the beginning. It is how well the story was laid out that even though the suspense of the killer wasn’t there, no one could take their eyes off the screen.

There are few movies that pull off the intensity of a murder mystery. It is one of the most popular genres and that is why standing out as a great one has now become difficult. Even though Death On The Nile had the potential to be absolutely breathtaking, it lacked the charm of creativity.

A Perfect Murder Mystery

This is why I found See How They Run to be a perfect murder mystery. While we definitely did not know who was the murderer but it was secondary in the plot. With a cast that is a critic’s heaven, the movie was a self-aware parody. The narrator hated himself and the person who died. It makes for an interesting dialogue, well, with himself. There was not much to the movie in terms of story because at this point there isn’t much left for Christie adaptations.

Saoirse Ronan was the best part of the movie (like she is in every movie, except The Host maybe). Keeping aside my ardent love for her, she had truly charmed all the viewers. Constable Stalker is an eager and diligent shadow for Inspector  Stoppard who has been assigned the glitzy murder case. As all other officers had been assigned a haunting serial killings case, Stoppard had Stalker as an assistant. She would note down every word uttered. Every detail is seen. All questions that she asked.

A character is well-written when there is a good reason for their characteristics. Arc is important but at the same time the characteristics that are symbolic need to have a reason. Stalker’s inquisitiveness is based on her need to justify the details of her life and her impatience is based on how she has to go take care of her family. At the same time, Stoppard doesn’t have any of these to think of. He does work because he doesn’t have anything else but Stalker not only enjoys it but needs to work.

Their personalities are extremely different and their different motivations in life are reflected in the investigation. How they see the intentions of the people around the victim takes them both on different routes to find the killer. They both do. The movie plays perception beautifully. As the narrator is giving his look into the investigation, the way the scene is presented is intended to give a look into the life of the character.

We know that the murderer is one of the film industry. The scenes are meant to play out flamboyantly but at the same time he is at crossroads with the theatre experts and so the setting of the stage is also crafted in a way that is a copycat of theatre productions.

Adrien Brody plays the murdered narcissistic director. It goes without saying that he is an excellent actor but because of how great he is on screen, his lack of presence put me off. This is another detail that irks me about Agatha Christie’s movies. There are just too many people. The movie gives too less time to get invested in any one of them. I haven’t started caring about any of the suspects to give a damn about them getting caught.

The Movie Culture Synopsis

See How They Run was great for the detectives but still way too fast-paced for me to care about the other characters. Overall this isn’t the worst Christie adaptation there is and also it is one of the lighter mysteries. Saoirse Ronan is the one to look for and she will not disappoint.