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See How They Run refers to mice, and opens with a 1953 West End performance of The Mousetrap, the Agatha Christie play which I’ve not seen, and I don’t think it’s ever been made into a film, but I’ll get to that…
We’re told it’s a whodunit, and how the cast are having a celebration for the 100th performance, although while Ms Christie, herself, hasn’t turned up, she has instead sent a big cake in her absence. Will she ever show her face in this film? Best not look at the cast list, then…
Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody – Air Strike) wants to direct the movie, but amongst a very long intro in which he narrates, he comments how in any whodunit, there’s always someone who’s going to be bumped off. And in this case, it’s him, even continuing to narrate after the moment happens.
Enter cops Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell – Vice) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan – Ammonite) to investigate – the actors working together brilliantly, with her character looking up to his, even though he’s a lazy drunk. Plus, there’s a nice turn from Tim Key (The Witchfinder) as their superior, Commissioner Harrold Scott. But in an era in which the 10 Rillington Place murders also occurred, will anyone else suffer? And will they catch whodunit?
In See How They Run, everyone’s both a suspect and a potential victim, for example with John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith – Inside No.9), who wants to produce a film based on The Mousetrap, but he can’t do that until the play’s West End run ends… and it never has to date.
The film uses split-screen used to great effect when showing the same scene from different angles, plus it sends itself up nicely, such as a couple of moments which I’ll hide behind a spoiler header in case you want to see them first-hand for yourself:
Overall, See How They Run is as enjoyable as I was expecting, and is very recommended to anyone who wants some escapist entertainment which does not outstay its welcome. I would love a sequel to come from this, and not the awful Knives Out, even though that has already spawned one, since the first one was rubbish.
See How They Run is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 98 minutes
Release date: September 9th 2022
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Format: 1.85:1
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Tom George
Screenplay: Mark Chappell
Producers: Gina Carter, Damian Jones
Music: Daniel Pemberton
Cast:
Inspector Stoppard: Sam Rockwell
Constable Stalker: Saoirse Ronan
Leo Kopernick: Adrien Brody
Sheila Sim: Pearl Chanda
Major Metcalf: Gregory Cox
Richard Attenborough: Harris Dickinson
Mrs. Boyle: Maggie McCarthy
Dennis Corrigan: Charlie Cooper
Petula Spencer: Ruth Wilson
Trumpet: Oliver Jackson
Double Bass: Tomi Ogbaro
John Woolf: Reece Shearsmith
Edana Romney: Sian Clifford
Mervyn Cocker-Norris: David Oyelowo
Gio: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Mother: Ania Marson
Commissioner Harrold Scott: Tim Key
Pierre: Philip Desmeules
Joyce: Laura Morgan
Ann Saville: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Sgt Bakewell: Angus Wright
Agatha Christie: Shirley Henderson
Fellowes: Paul Chahidi
Max Mallowan: Lucian Msamati
Mr. Lyon: Tolu Ogunmefun
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.