--- title: "The Outrun: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-outrun/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-outrun" critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Outrun (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 66 from 13 reviews: 8 positive, 4 mixed, 1 negative. The reviews agree on one thing and split on nearly everything else. Saoirse Ronan’s performance as Rona is praised almost without exception, described as raw, full-bodied and unshowy, and several critics say it holds the film together when the filmmaking does not. Orkney gets similar credit: the wind and the sea are singled out as often as the lead. The disagreement is over Nora Fingscheidt’s fractured structure. Most critics find the time-jumping and montage an honest way of showing what addiction feels like from the inside; a sizeable minority find it undisciplined. The Los Angeles Times calls the result a meandering travelogue, The New Yorker finds the fragments too rushed to let the performance breathe, and The Times, the lone outright negative, objects to the structure and to Ronan’s accent. Even admirers note a baggy final third and narration that says what the images already show. The spread is wide, from warm four-star notices to two. ## Little White Lies — Katherine McLaughlin Rating 4/4/4. 26 September 2024. The critic highlights the sensationally directed and performed film, with Fingscheidt crafting a visceral experience of recovery and Ronan delivering a deeply affecting performance, balanced with humour and detail. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-outrun) ## The i Paper — Francesca Steele Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 September 2024. The vivid, pulsating film favours texture and experimentation over plot to convey what addiction feels like. Saoirse Ronan gives an astonishing full-body performance that could finally win her an Oscar. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-3293579) ## Time Out — Stephen A Russell Rating 4/5. 22 February 2024. Festival review. The critic commends Saoirse Ronan's stunning, towering performance as Rona, noting the film's formal boldness and majestic depiction of Orkney, while handling traumas with care. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-outrun-review-2024) ## Empire — Laura Venning Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 September 2024. The film offers a sensitive, non-judgemental portrayal of addiction and mental illness but is sometimes baggy and repetitive in its final third. It is anchored by Saoirse Ronan's typically transcendent performance. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-outrun/) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 26 September 2024. The review praises Ronan's performance as grounding the film, but criticizes the flashy directorial style and the film's tendency to make recovery seem too easy, with a strained catharsis. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2024/02/18/the-outrun-film-review-saorise-ronan-amy-liptrot/) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2024. Festival review. Acknowledges Saoirse Ronan's authentic performance in this recovery drama but finds the somber, fragmented style overwhelmingly drab and lacking fire. Criticizes the meditative, free-form adaptation for failing to ignite despite stylish elements. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-sundance-1235891320/) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2024. Notes Saoirse Ronan's compelling portrait of alcoholism and recovery but faults the undisciplined filmmaking, with shaky-cam, time-jumping, and narration turning it into a meandering travelogue rather than a focused drama. Singles out the lack of patient characterization amid the montage-like approach. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-03/review-the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2024. Finds the adaptation sincere but disappointingly constrained, with no creative or emotional risk in its telling of addiction and recovery. Criticizes the rushed, illustrative style that reduces scenes to fragments and limits the lead performance's depth. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-outrun-reviewed-a-disappointingly-constrained-showcase-for-saoirse-ronan) ## RogerEbert.com — Tomris Laffly 4 October 2024. Praises the film's tender exploration of recovery through nature and solitude, centered on Saoirse Ronan's career-best performance as an alcoholic rebuilding her life on the Orkney Islands. Highlights the inventive, non-linear structure and documentary-like interludes on island life as strengths that make the film surprising and emotionally resonant. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-outrun-film-review) ## Screen Daily 20 January 2024. Festival review. The critic finds Ronan's delicate performance gives grace and steel to this familiar addiction story, with a compassionate mix of optimism and pain in a modest, unfussy approach. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-outrun-sundance-review/5189434.article) ## Sight and Sound — Guy Lodge 20 August 2024. The critic praises the film's poetic, fragmented structure and Saoirse Ronan's performance as conveying defiant power in self-redemption, while noting some loss of secondary character nuance. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/outrun-saoirse-ronan-brings-quiet-defiance-this-elegant-study-addiction) ## Slant Magazine — Ross McIndoe 18 August 2024. Nora Fingscheidt deftly captures the push-pull between chaotic urban nightlife and the quiet, sometimes suffocating landscapes of Orkney. Ronan soars with a raw, rough-edged performance that conveys both charisma and the pain of feeling adrift while navigating addiction and family mental illness through vivid natural metaphors. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan/) ## The Guardian 28 September 2024. The critic finds the film a refreshingly unconventional take on addiction recovery due to its fractured structure and focus on the present moment, praising the intelligence of the filmmaking and Ronan's performance, while noting it sometimes leans too heavily on shots of the protagonist in fields. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/sep/28/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-impresses-in-a-refreshingly-unconventional-recovery-drama) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 19 January 2024. Festival review. Saoirse Ronan delivers a turbulent, emotionally charged performance as a recovering alcoholic returning to her Orkney Islands roots. The drama is often punishing but punctuated by nature's transcendent power, with distinctive elements that elevate it beyond a standard addiction story. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-1235792229/) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson Rating Critic's Pick. 3 October 2024. Celebrates Saoirse Ronan's stunning performance in a recovery story about an alcoholic seeking healing on the remote Orkney Islands after rock bottom in London. Singles out Ronan's ability to elevate the familiar narrative into something beautiful and joyful despite occasional overdone elements. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/03/movies/the-outrun-review.html) ## The Times Rating ★★☆☆☆. 26 September 2024. The critic criticizes the stultifying structure, one-dimensional character, and Ronan's accent, finding it tedious. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-bmh9bdjt8) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri 4 October 2024. Saoirse Ronan gives one of her most transcendent performances in this windswept drama about a woman rebuilding after addiction. The film shines through its intoxicating montages that capture both the allure of hedonistic abandon and its brutal consequences, using nature and myth to explore control and helplessness. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-outrun-review-saoirse-ronan-at-her-most-transcendent.html) ## HeyUGuys — Linda Marric Rating 4/5. 26 September 2024. A meditative, introspective adaptation that captures the struggle for sobriety amid stark island beauty, anchored by Saoirse Ronan's career-defining turn as a resilient woman confronting her past. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-outrun-review/) ## The Skinny — Jamie Dunn Rating ★★★★. 23 September 2024. The critic praises Nora Fingscheidt's lyrical adaptation for balancing depictions of sobriety's angsty boredom with alcohol's chaotic energy. The wind-blasted Orkney landscape and Saoirse Ronan's transcendent central performance are singled out as the film's chief strengths. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-outrun-saoirse-ronan) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating 7/10. 4 October 2024. Festival review. The film is a powerful addiction drama thanks to a magnificent performance by Saoirse Ronan and assured direction by Nora Fingscheidt that expertly handles a nonlinear structure. Some unnecessary narration is the only clumsy element in an otherwise assured and remarkable work. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-outrun-movie-review/) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating B-. 19 January 2024. Festival review. Ronan's strong, non-showy lead performance and the film's visually compelling contrast between urban chaos and island tranquility stand out in this recovery drama, though it occasionally repeats and overstays its welcome. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-outrun-saoirse-ronan-stars-in-the-adaptation-of-the-best-selling-memoir-20240119/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2024. Festival review. The critic finds Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation muddled in narrative structure and uneven in tone, despite smart directorial touches. They single out Saoirse Ronan’s emotionally raw central performance and the film’s ambitious visuals and recovery themes for praise. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/saoirse-ronan-the-outrun-review/) ## Film Stories — James Harvey 27 September 2024. The critic finds the film empathetic and authentic in its portrayal of recovery and fear, praising Saoirse Ronan's believable, understated performance as a woman navigating sobriety and family trauma on the Orkney Islands. [Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/the-outrun-review-sobriety-and-fear-on-the-islands-of-orkney/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-outrun.md