Murder mysteries and classic whodunits will forever be part of our cinematic experience. They are stories that have been with us for decades, and they’ll continue to be with us… Maybe even forever. There’s something about the mystery and intrigue that translates really well onto the big screen. It almost becomes an interactive experience where the audience can suddenly reach under their chairs and pull out a deerstalker hat, a notepad and a pen. You become the detective as you start weighing motives and accessing evidence. Now, you may not get it right every time, but it’s a very fullfilling feeling when you nail it on the head.
Tom George’s See How They Run is another great addition to the vast library of murder mysteries. Audiences can step into the crime scene from September 9th when Searchlight Pictures brings the film to the big screen.
Synopsis
In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after the film’s Hollywood director is mudered. When world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and eager rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) take on the case, the two find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit with the glamorously sordid theatre underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.
Review
For a film like See How They Run to succeed in terms of the audience, it needed to nail that ‘whodunit’ narrative. If a murder mystery is not a mystery, then it has failed, right? What’s great about See How They Run is that it abides by the typical conventions associated with the ‘whodunit’ genre while also poking fun at the formula. But it’s fun in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the intial mystery which is obviously at the centre of this film.
See How They Run introduces a bunch of characters from the theatre world who have their own motives, some take the centre stage while others intentionally lurk in the background. Various red herrings are utilised to throw us off, one of which captures just how wild our imaginations can run when we latch onto a small detail- hilarity ensues. It wasn’t easy to guess who commited the heinous act, but See How They Run revels not in the “who”, but the “why”. You may be able to indentify the killer, but the reasoning is completely unpredictable and it all unravels in a spectacular finale that evokes the very nature of Agatha Christie and brings the story full circle. As the pieces fell into place, what was happening at the same time was utterly hilarious and incredibly clever.
In a way, See How They Run does more than poke fun at an entire genre, it pretty much mocks Hollywood as well. A lot of the film focuses on a director’s attempt to adapt a classic story, but what you see is the gradual meddling whereby an iconic play is changed for the sake of boosting those box office figures. Gun fights and action sequences are added in. Flashbacks and exposition are incorporated because they think that the general public are lazy and dim. It takes these notions and really plays with them and the pay off is absolutely brilliant. See How They Run is so much more than a murder mystery… It’s a satirical parody of two major cogs in the cinematic world.
This film would be so much less without the brilliant cast that helped fill this bleak world to life. The suspects are fun, continuously suspicious, and complete divas- surprising no one. While a murder had been committed, it was hard to see any of the suspects as a villain and that only broadened the mystery. Most of the motives were petty and typical, but they felt so kinetic and fresh because of the ways in which they were presented. All of them sounded very legitimate, and being engulfed in the theatrical realm really added to the characters and the world that transpired around them.
However, Sam Rockwell’s Inspector Stoppard and Saoirse Ronan’s Constable Stalker absolutely stole the show- pun intended. Rockwell’s uncaring and miserable Inspector and Ronan’s passionate and talkative Constable make for the perfect duo. They are both on different ends of the spectrum and it’s the fact that they don’t mix that actually makes them mix. But, behind the quirky humor and miserable demeanor, there is a sadness to both of these characters and it’s within that sadness that a bridge is formed. They don’t work very well together at all, but their relationship is incredibly funny, strained, and heartwarming.
Stalker was arguably the best character because it felt as though she was designed to, not only negate and highlight the gendered expectations of women in the police force in the 50s, but also act as our representative. Stalker is the audience. There’s a nuance to Stalker that makes her stand out. She’s very aware, energetic, but also quick to react. She’s the character that actively attempts to solve the crime by connecting different strands, and that is pretty much what we do as the audience. Rather than trying to solve this crime on our own, we actually have someone with us and that created a really fun dynamic whereby our involvement felt emphasised.
One of the things that separates See How They Run is the setting. There’s something about the aesthetics of the 1950s that looks absolutely wonderful and See How They Run captures it brilliantly. However, it’s the theatre setting that sets this film apart. While the Covid pandemic was absolutely awful for all of us… It did provide a unique opportunity for See How They Run. Since many of the iconic theatres and landmarks in London were empty, rather than relying on the magic of CGI… Why not make the most of the empty space? It all looked amazing and they really used every element in the best ways possible- even creating a Scooby-Doo esque door chase scene which was brilliant. Even if you aren’t a fan of the typical murder mystery narrative, it’s hard not to be impressed by how well this film captures the spirit of theatre on a visual level and actually uses it as a way to progress the story and create moments of humor.
Verdict
See How They Run is a delightful escape to the theatre. Not only is it funny and quirky, with some brilliant gags and interactions, it is also a genuinely interesting story that keeps you on your toes. While the film reinforces this idea that once you’ve seen one murder mystery, you have now seen them all, See How They Run proves that that isn’t the case at all. See How They Run is a film for mystery lovers and theatre goers alike. There is something for everybody, whether it’s the mystery that plagues the film, the beautiful architecture, or the various characters. See How They Run is fun, utterly charming, and an absolute must.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Written by Mark Chappell and directed by Tom George, See How They Run features an all-star cast including Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson and Reece Shearsmith. Also starring are Harris Dickinson, Charlie Cooper, Shirley Henderson, Lucian Msamati, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Pearl Chanda, Paul Chahidi, Sian Clifford, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Tim Key, Anna Mason and David Oyelowo.
See How They Run hits UK cinemas on September 9, 2022.
