See How They Run Review

See How They Run is a period comedy mystery that features an ensemble cast. It’s a mystery that has an incredibly self-aware approach.

The theatrical adaptation of The Mousetrap has been an incredible success and celebrated its hundredth performance. Hollywood wants to adapt the play into a film. However, when the director, Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody), is found murdered at the theatre, a London Metropolitan detective, Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and a young uniformed officer, Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) are sent to investigate.

Knives Out was a critical and commercial success when it was released at the end of 2019. It was a film that featured an ensemble cast and was both a homage and subversion of Agatha Christie’s mysteries. Now we are starting to see films being influenced by Knives Out being released.

See How They Run’s unique selling point was it was an Agatha Christie-style mystery that revolved around the stage version of The Mousetrap, the longest-running play on the West End. Added to that See How They Run the film production was a major factor in the plot. The film opened with Köpernick narrating where he talked about the tropes of the whodunit and setting up the suspects. Within the first act there were talks about the writing and filmmaking process: it even lampshades the use of flashbacks in these types of films. This self-awareness made See How They Run seem more like the Scream franchise which played on the tropes of slasher films.

See How They Run was set in the 1950s and homages the style of that period. It was a knockabout comedy that was filled with witty exchanges, one-liners, and visual gags. Ronan was terrific in her role. She had impeccable comedic timing as an enthusiastic if naïve police officer who gets thrust into the murder investigation. She made awkward jokes and was fun to watch. It was fun to see her fangirl over Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickenson) when the police got to interview the actor. She had potential as a police officer, but she also had a lot to learn. It was great to see Ronan being allowed to perform with her native Irish accent.

See How They Run did have a great cast. Sam Rockwell and Adrien Brody gave the film some American star power, there were recognisable actors like Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, and David Oyelowo, and emerging talent in the form of Dickinson (The King’s Man and Where the Crawdads Sing). Rockwell and Ronan had excellent chemistry together as the gruff, world-weary detective and the young go-getter.

Stoppard was a typical detective character because he was a hard drinker who lived a solitary life. He was an unlikeable character at first since he made some sexist comments and didn’t treat Stalker with much respect. Yet, Rockwell does make the character a bit more sympathetic as the film progressed, something Rockwell has done before. The challenge for Rockwell was to perform with an English accent and he did that perfectly well.

See How They Run served as the feature film debut for Tom George and Mark Chappell. George was best known for directing the BBC sitcom This Country and Chappell has worked as a writer on numerous TV shows. They were able to make a breezy, light-hearted romp. George was particularly impressed because he showed he had a cinematic eye. He was able to bring a flash to the film with the use of split screens to show events from different perspectives. It gave the film a bit of a comic book vibe.

See How They Run was a likeable little film. It wasn’t as subversive as Knives Out but made up for this with humour, brisk pace, and entertaining leads.