See How They Run (2022) Movie Review
See How They Run is one of the most fun movies of the year, especially if you like murder mysteries. In 1950’s London, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is celebrating its 100th show in the West End. For those who might not know, that play has run continuously from 1952 through March, 2020 when COVID hit. To say it is a smash hit is a gross understatement. If you’ve been fortunate enough to see The Mousetrap you will find See How They Run even more entertaining. But for now, back to the movie.
The cast of The Mousetrap is thrown into a frenzy when a film director (Adrian Brody) who was assisting in creating a film adaptation of the play, is murdered backstage. Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) arrives on the scene to begin investigating. He is assisted by the perky and eager to please Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan). What follows is a regular British who-dun-it laced with so many murder mystery references that it’s impossible to catch them all. The movie melds real life with fiction seamlessly. A fictional Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson) is in the movie and in case you weren’t aware, Attenborough was actually part of The Mousetrap cast in real life. There is a culminating scene at Agatha Christie’s house complete with her second husband Max Mallowan, which was the perfect ending to the movie (this decidedly did not happen in real life). There is also a mention of the real-life murder that partially inspired Christie to write The Mousetrap (although the mentions are all a bit convoluted).
Aside from the periodic injections of real people and events and meta-references, what makes See How They Run so fun is the pacing and acting. Ronan shines as Constable Stalker perfecting the awkward, nervous persona with ease. Her chemistry with Rockwell is amazing and she provides the perfect foil for his world-weary, broken-hearted personality. Stalker writes everything down in a notebook “in case it might be important later” and instead of becoming a tired bit, Ronan keeps it interesting and proves she is perfectly capable of being a comedic actor. The pace is lightning fast and the dialogue is constantly back and forth with plenty of predictable bits. But at its core See How they Run is pure joyful entertainment. There are plenty of wink, wink, nudge, nudge moments that might get tiresome. But if you like murder mysteries and stories teeming with references then you’ll fully enjoy this movie. The actual murder doesn’t come close to being on par with Christie’s work but it’s hard to compete with a legend.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like murder mysteries
2. You like Agatha Christie
3. You like keeping things light
