Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
This review of Run Away is largely spoiler-free
A father is desperate to track his missing daughter, but when he does spot her busking at a park, it looks like she wants nothing to do with her family and tries to run away from him the second they make eye contact. But she looks beaten up, bruised, scared, and has been living with her boyfriend, a drug addict and peddler.
Based on a novel by popular mystery writer Harlan Coben (‘Fool Me Once’, ‘Missing You’), Netflix series ‘Run Away’ follows Simon Greene (James Nesbitt), successful professional and dad of three, as he tries to remove his daughter Paige (Ellie de Lange) from her abusive boyfriend Aaron’s (Thomas Flynn) influence. His relentless efforts to track her leads him and his wife Ingrid (Minnie Driver) into the dangerous world of drugs, murder, and crime. What’s worse? He soon becomes the prime suspect in a gruesome murder that may involve his daughter, Paige, as police officer Isaac Fagbenle (played by Alfred Enoch) attempts to build a case against Simon.
Now there are at least two parallel subplots unfolding in Run Away. One follows Simon’s relentless efforts to track Paige down, while the other centers on a more mysterious storyline involving two friends, Dee Dee (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) and Ash (Jon Pointing), who drive around town with a hit list, killing unsuspecting victims. Viewers are left completely in the dark about their motives, at least until the second half of this eight-episode thriller.
Until then, there’s also private investigator Elena Ravenscroft (Ruth Jones), who goes around town gathering clues to locate a missing young man. Her investigation slowly reveals that there may be a common thread linking a series of seemingly random murders, and once again, Paige appears to be a small but crucial part of the puzzle.
Elena is one of the more entertaining characters on Run Away, though the creators try far too hard to sell her as a genius, Sherlock Holmes type detective. At one point, she spots a trash bag lying outside a shop and immediately clocks it as “out of place.” Really? In England, where litter is practically part of the urban landscape, a stray trash bag feels less like a clue and more like background decor.
James Nesbitt’s Simon Greene comes off like a permanently irritated, grinchy version of Mr Bean. He is constantly angry, quick to explode, and seemingly allergic to thinking things through. The show insists he possesses some elusive British “charm,” though it never actually shows up on screen.
Most of the Run Away cast does no better, delivering performances that are quite forgettable, except for Maeve Courtier-Lilley as the crazy-eyed Dee Dee. She fully commits to the role, playing her antagonist with zero regard for human life. From her very first scene to her last, Dee Dee is unhinged, irritating, and deeply detestable, exactly what the part calls for.
Without giving major spoilers, here’s a scene in Run Away: one of the primary characters is running from an armed assailant. They’re both on the top floor of a building, locked in a heated “cat-and-mouse” chase, when, out of nowhere, an elderly person appears and saves the character from death. We burst out laughing at the scene because, unless the surprise savior was Nightcrawler from X-Men (or someone else with teleportation skills), there’s no way that twist could have taken place. These are the kinds of moments this thriller runs on.
While the story has its share of interesting ideas, everything is dialed up to unnecessary levels of drama, and the runtime is padded with emotional detours that add little to the plot. In the end, it’s a thriller that demands patience, but if convenient twists and implausible turns don’t bother you, you may still find something to enjoy.
Rating: 5 on 10. Watch ‘Run Away’ on Netflix.
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