The Outrun movie review: This raw addiction story with standout star Saoirse Ronan feels eerily real

THE OUTRUN

(15) 118 minutes

★★★★★

“IT never gets easy… it just gets less hard,” is the advice given to recovering alcoholic Rona (Saoirse Ronan) in this adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir.

We first meet this intriguing character as she lives with her kind, God-fearing mother on the remote island of Orkney in Scotland.

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The last two inches of Rona’s hair are bright blue, indicating that perhaps a past life full of wild times and hedonistic nights is growing out of her.

She works alone on the family farm while listening to dance songs on her headphones and drinking cans of full-fat Coke.

There’s something manic about her as she performs the smallest of tasks.

She’s like a coiled spring, ready to spring away at any moment.

She is smart, fun and full of energy.

We soon see why. In several flashbacks we follow a completely blue-haired Rona in London, who lives with boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) and studies to become a scientist.

But she carries her demons, with the devil on her shoulder, alcohol.

As the flashbacks continue, we get more harrowing examples of how Rona poured her entire beautiful life on booze and then simply lit a match.

She is self-destructive and sometimes violent.

She falls into a canal and gets herself into terrifyingly risky situations.

It all feels eerily real.

Daynin, who clearly adores her, has pushed his patience to the limit and – as many who have dealt with addicts know – he finally realizes there is nothing he can do.

Change has to come from her.

And then it happens, when she wakes up in a hospital.

We then see her at Alcoholics Anonymous, where she shares her stories with other survivors.

All this is juxtaposed with Rona living her lonely life in the freezing weather of the Scottish islands, without even a TV to distract her from herself.

Director Nora Fingscheidt gives this drama a steady hand, allowing the character of Rona to breathe without becoming a cliché.

It’s raw and very real, perfectly balancing the monotony and frustration of recovery with the joy and hope it can bring.

The backdrop of the Scottish landscape is sublime, making you long for fresh air and the cold on your face.

The standout star, however, is Saoirse’s understated, excellent performance.

She is truly something to see.

MEGALOPOLIS

(15) 138 minutes

★★☆☆☆

Director Francis Ford Coppola, known for his mafia film The Godfather, invested more than £100 million of his own money in this futuristic feature film inspired by ancient Rome.

It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and is set in a decaying metropolis where architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) is given the power to rebuild it as a sustainable utopia with a new invention.

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His arch-enemy Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) tries to thwart his plans.

Between them is the mayor’s daughter Julia (Game Of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel) who is looking for her own path to happiness.

But Coppola’s attempt to tackle big ideas about humanity backfires, leaving a bloated, confusing mess that’s almost impossible to sit through.

The leads do their best, but can’t save this overstuffed, overstuffed, downright ridiculous film.

The most pretentious movie ever? Probably not, but a contender.

Even with a star-studded secondary cast featuring Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, and Jon Voight, this vanity project is sure to leave viewers scratching their heads and more than a little bored.

Linda Marrik

MY OLD ASS

(15) 89 minutes

★★★★☆

YOUTH is wasted on the young, right?

In this super-smart coming-of-age comedy, we follow 18-year-old Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) who one day has a strange encounter with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza).

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The older Elliott arrives just as the younger Elliott is feasting on some potent mushrooms on her birthday.

Wise words and life lessons follow, which the young, carefree Elliott usually rejects.

The teen just wants to leave her life on her family’s farm in a Canadian port city behind and, like most kids her age, is focused on hanging out with her friends, exploring her sexuality and rolling her eyes to her mother.

But when the older Elliott tells her to “stay away from anyone named Chad,” she tries to take over, especially when a farm hand named Chad (Percy Hynes White) arrives and Elliott promptly falls in love.

No clear explanation is given as to how older Elliott can travel in time.

The film also doesn’t concern itself with negative consequences for sexual promiscuity or light drug use, which is refreshing.

The result is a charming, sharp film that will make you laugh and cry.