Run Sweetheart Run (2020)★★★★☆

I feel this is going to be a polarizing movie. It’s definitely…weird, and absurd, and over-the-top, and campy. I’d seen it before, but watching it again it really reminded me of Sissy, which isn’t a bad thing!

There’s some weird pacing in this film, and some interesting camera (or lack thereof) choices. The soundtrack is trippy, which is fitting with some of the lighting choices.

While I’m not quite sold on the plot as a “good story,” I get the allegory. It’s not subtle, and I don’t think it’s supposed to be. It’s also certainly not lacking a good number of plot holes.

The two lead performances were surprisingly effective. I only say surprisingly because I don’t think I’ve seen either of them in anything before? (No, I haven’t watched all of Game of Thrones. I think I stopped watching around the same time, plotwise, as I stopped reading. I never made it through A Feast for Crows or past the fourth season or so.)

Truly, Ella Balinska as Cherie (a bit on the nose with the name there) was spectacular. Even the parts of this that dragged, were dragged along much more smoothly by her shining performance. And Pilou Asbæk as Ethan was perfectly cast as “evil white guy who (spoiler alert) might be an actual demon.”

There were just a few familiar faces rounding out the supporting cast, with Betsy Brandt, Clark Gregg, and Shohreh Aghdashloo making mostly brief but memorable appearances.

Overall, I found this a fun, “easy” watch… but it is FULL of blood (all kinds of blood), guts, and violence, so maybe don’t watch it during dinner.