Reviewing "Run": A simple yet superb thriller with great performances

Run is a thriller directed by Aneesh Chaganty and starred Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen. Kiera Allen stars as Chloe, a young woman excited to go to college but is unfortunately plagued by various illnesses that necessitate the constant care of her mother Diane, played excellently by Paulson, who has homeschooled her ever since she was young. The film is mainly set in their house, and from the start there are already hints of underlying tension slowly developing between mother and daughter as Chloe begins to suspect her mother of keeping secrets from her.

The plot is simple enough. Chloe is a wheelchair-bound young woman who begins to notice something strange about her mother and her secretive manner and strives to understand more about her situation. Kiera Allen, herself a wheelchair-using actress, plays Chloe as a sheltered but resourceful young woman trying to understand her mother's increasingly sinister-seeming actions, played with a sense of vulnerability and quiet intelligence. Paulson's Diane is just as captivating, becoming a much more murkier presence as the film goes on. The film is essentially a long cat-and-mouse game between Chloe and Diane, and both women shine in their roles. The tension just ramps up in every scene, and it is a testament to Allen that she can hold her own, acting against someone as good as Paulson.

The minimalist setting of the house really worked wonders for the film. The story unfolds largely within the house and the familiar domestic setting becomes a place rife with thrilling tension and paranoia. The film is essentially a series of increasingly tense and elaborate set pieces in which Chloe notices something amiss and has to find various ways to uncover the truth without Diane noticing. One particular sequence involving the outside of the house was particularly heart-stopping tension and showed Chloe's resourcefulness aptly.

The film is also very well-shot, with good lighting and framing in every scene, keeping the audience focused on what is important in every shot, keeping them invested, and allowing them to feel the gradually building tension and Chloe's feelings of being lost and desperate. The camera also rarely strays far from Chloe, giving the audience a sense of presence and preserving a lot of tension when the audience is just as clueless as Chloe as to what could happen at any minute. 

To say any more about this brilliantly made film would spoil it, but between the performances and the tense sequences, this is a very effective thriller that definitely deserves a watch.

Score: 9/10