‘Run Sweetheart Run’ (2022) Review: Unrewarding Horror Joint Crawls to the Finish Line
Shana Feste’s Run Sweetheart Run follows a young single mother being hunted by a demonic white man after a night out. Cherie (Ella Balinska) goes through a series of misogynistic treatments, such as getting groped on the bus and experiencing inappropriate behaviour at work. What’s worse is that the people at work aren’t even ashamed of this unethical and inhumane behaviour. All of these situations are similar to what many people go through in their lives. Feste attempts to show the grim reality of people’s horrible experiences on dates and in workspaces, in a splashy thriller that manages to conclude the movie with new ideas and a troubling narrative structure.
When Cherie’s boss, James (Clark Gregg) calls to inform her about a scheduling mishap, where she double-booked him for the evening. He tells her that she must go to dinner with an important client, who happens to be very handsome and charismatic, Ethan (Pilou Asbæk), at his place. Cherie scrambles together with a babysitter and heads off to see the client at his luxurious home. She is pleasantly surprised when she meets Ethan and he turns up the charm during their conversations. It’s become clear that the business dinner has now turned into a date, but Ethan slowly starts behaving strangely. He loses his mind when he sees a dog and expresses a heartfelt explanation due to a traumatic childhood attack that scarred him for life. After dinner, Ethan invites Cherie to his home. But Cherie is uncertain about the proposition but gives in and goes inside. From this point on, Cherie’s life is turned upside down and she must run for her life when things turn from nice to nasty in just 30 seconds.
Run Sweetheart Run presents a broader explanation regarding the power that Ethan possesses. He has the upper hand when it comes to the institutions of power. The police are in his pocket, Cherie’s boss working for him to capture and murder young women, and there are many darker truths that are revealed in the movie. The movie states that men are the horrible monsters in the world and shows the power imbalance between the victim and the attacker. It is the kind of violence that is unpredictable and yet, universal in many ways. Feste attempts to make a point that Cherie can ask for help. It is not James, who she goes to after running away from Ethan’s home. Cherie realises that his hands have just as much blood as the monstrous demon terrorising her night. The only people who were willing to help Cherie were sex workers and bus drivers, and not the people that were meant to “serve and protect” victims of abuse. Instead, they are presented as part of the problem — a problem that contributed to the brutal violence against young women, just like Cherie.
While Feste’s movie presents the audience with critical ideas of the kinds of misogynistic experiences that young women like Cherie face every day, the way the structure is revealed is disjointed. Run Sweetheart Run begins with a promising star but as the story progresses, the moments become lacklustre and dialogues are all over the place. The movie constantly echoes structural and pacing issues, which makes the final act struggle to gain momentum.
One of the most interesting aspects of the movie’s directorial decision is that Feste decides not to show Ethan inflicting harm on Cherie. During the first act, when she walks into his home, the camera follows him and he breaks the fourth wall. He holds his hand in front of the camera, gesturing for the audience to not follow them inside the house. After an agonising 30 seconds of silence, the audience sees Cherie run out of his home with her clothes shredded and bleeding. Feste’s decision to censor the brutal attacks against Cherie is an excellent choice that shows that it isn’t necessary to show them at all. It is a great attempt to correct many of the horror movies that choose to show women being inflicted with harm.
Run Sweetheart Run is a straightforward thriller that shows a woman living through the horrors of dating and everyday sexism. It’s an overambitious film that attempts to take the leap with its critical ideas of how society treats women. However, the narrative potential of the movie isn’t strong enough to hold any of these ideas together, which makes Run Sweetheart Run an average horror movie. It could have been much better to discuss them without leaning toward the horror-fantasy genre elements.
