Chloe and her mom have an unnatural relationship. Diane has raised her daughter in isolation, controlling every aspect of her life. Chloe is only starting to uncover the secrets that Diane has kept hidden. A film by Aneesh Chaganty, starring Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen.
RUN
Aneesh Chaganty
(2020)
Diane (Sarah Paulson) gives birth prematurely to a daughter, Chloe, who has arrhythmia (An abnormality of electrical impulses in the heart, causing irregular heartbeats), hemochromatosis (An excess accumulation of iron in the bloodstream, causing rashes and nausea), asthma (An inflammation of the airways in the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing), and diabetes (An impairment of the pancreas to produce insulin, causing unstable glucose levels), as well as partial paralysis (An inhibition of muscle function, causing an inability to move, feel, walk, or run).
Seventeen years later, teenager Chloe (Kiera Allen) relies on multiple daily medications, including insulin injections, to manage her glucose levels. She uses a wheelchair to navigate her paralyzed legs. Homeschooled by her mother, she has never attended a traditional school.
Chloe awaits her acceptance letter from a college she applied to, which yet to arrive. While searching a bag of groceries for chocolate, she finds a prescription bottle of green pills labeled with Diane’s name, but keeps her curiosity to herself.
That night, Diane hands Chloe a prescription bottle of green capsules, explaining that they are a new medication to replace her old one, which is no longer available. Chloe recognizes the green capsule from the prescription bottle in grocery bags, and inquires about the label bearing Diane’s name. However, Diane insists that Chloe must have mistaken a receipt for the prescription label.
Inspecting the prescription bottle the following day, Chloe uncovers a second label beneath her own. Although partially obscured, Diane’s name is clearly legible.
That night, Chloe sneaks out of her room and descends to the computer downstairs, determined to uncover the secrets of TRIGOXIN, the new prescription drug her mother has given her. But the internet is down, leaving her frustrated. Undeterred, she dials random numbers, pleading with strangers to google the information for her. Finally, she makes headway, learning that TRIGOXIN is a heart medication, but the authentic version comes in red capsules, unlike the green capsules her mother gave her.
American filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty, whose directorial debut, Searching, grossed over $75 million on a budget of $880,000, helms his second feature, RUN.
RUN boasts a compelling narrative and stellar performances by Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen, a rising star who uses a wheelchair in real life. This marks the first time in 70 years that American cinema has featured a disabled actress in a leading role, since Susan Peters in 1948’s The Sign of the Ram.
The screenplay’s predictability undermines the revelation of the truth, which feels unconvincing. Why would a person keep all the documents that could implicate them in a box instead of destroying them? Surely there are more creative ways to reveal such information.
RUN’s structure echoes the real-life case of Dee Dee Blanchard’s murder in 2015, which was later adapted into a documentary, a 2017 film, and a 2019 television series.
On 14 June 2015, sheriff’s deputies in Greene County, Missouri, United States, found the body of Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard face down in the bedroom of her house just outside Springfield, lying on the bed in a pool of blood from stab wounds inflicted several days earlier. There was no sign of her daughter, Gypsy Rose, who, according to Blanchard, had chronic conditions including leukemia, asthma, and muscular dystrophy and who had the “mental capacity of a 7-year-old due to brain damage” as the result of premature birth.
Originally scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on 8 May 2020, to coincide with Mother’s Day weekend, RUN was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hulu acquired the American distribution rights, and the film debuted exclusively on its streaming service on 20 November. Netflix later acquired the international streaming rights and released the film on 2 April 2021.
Digoxin
TRIGOXIN, which appears in the film, is a fictional drug, although its medicinal properties are similar to Digoxin. Digoxin is a cardiac medication used to treat various heart conditions, primarily atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart failure. It increases myocardial contractility, stroke volume, and blood pressure, while decreasing heart rate and slightly extending contraction duration.
Lidocaine
The green capsule pills share similar medicinal properties to lidocaine, a local anesthetic of the amino amide type. Lidocaine is also used to treat ventricular tachycardia. When used for local anesthesia or nerve blocks, lidocaine typically begins working within several minutes and lasts for half an hour to three hours. Lidocaine is one of the most commonly used local anaesthetics in dentistry. It is also used in the form of topical creams, gels, and patches.
