Lionsgate has revealed the first trailer for the psychological thriller Run. The Latest from Searching writer-director Aneesh Chaganty. Looking to leap off the computer and smartphone screens, his follow-up film stars Sarah Paulson.
The film focuses on Diane (Paulson) and her daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen). Just like the actress who plays her, Chloe is confined to a wheelchair. But her mother keeps her inside the house and refuses to let her leave. Throughout the story, Chloe realizes her mother may be hiding something dark and dangerous. The film is focused almost exclusively on just these two characters creating a sense of tension and unease that feels like it might leap off the screen.
Check out the first trailer for Run below:
The first thing you notice about the trailer is the shifting aspect ratio. During the first half of its running time the widescreen cinematography begins to squeeze tighter on the unfolding events, increasing the tension the film is clearly striving for. During the second half, it’s fun to notice all the clever ways in which the word “run” is integrated into the frames. This is saying a lot visually without even mentioning Sarah Paulson, who seems unable to turn in a performance that’s anything less than palpable.
Run was announced back in 2018 by Lionsgate, who would be producing, distributing, and financing the film. Paulson joined cast in October of that same year and the film went before cameras on Halloween and wrapped later that December.
Paulson later told Entertainment Weekly just a couple of days before the film’s official trailer dropped that creating greater visibility for disabled actors in Hollywood was a key part of her attraction to the film.
“I believe this will be the first studio movie ever starring a wheelchair user, and just to be part of a historical moment like that is really, really exciting,” Allen said. “But the more exciting thing for me was just the character and the story, and to be able to play a part that was really about the character and not about the disability. And it was written so richly, and with such specificity and detail, which really gave me a lot to play with. But I never felt like he was casting just to be inclusive, I really felt like it was a collaboration.”
Check out the cool poster for Run as well:
This is Chaganty’s first film since her critically acclaimed thriller Searching. An economically brilliant little film (it’s set entirely on computer screens and smartphones) starring John Cho as a father trying to find his missing 16-year-old daughter (played by Michelle La) with the help of a police detective (played by Will & Grace‘s Debra Messing). It was the first mainstream Hollywood thriller headlined by an Asian-American actor and went on to gross over $75 million worldwide against an $880,000 budget and received praise for its direction, acting, unique visual presentation, and unpredictable storyline. Cho even received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for his role.
Run clocks into theaters on May 8, which just so happens to coincide with Mother’s Day weekend (as made apparent in the trailer and poster above) so…Y’know, enjoy the irony.
Images: Lionsgate
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