Review: Run Hide Fight

Isabel May plays a 17 year-old student with a hunter/survivalist father (Thomas Jane), who teaches her in the opening scene about the mercy killing of a deer she has shot but has not quite died. Speaking of death, May’s mother (Radha Mitchell) recently passed from cancer, and May feels her ex-military dad hasn’t quite grieved her yet. One day at school, a van literally crashes through the cafeteria, as recently suspended Eli Brown (unconvincing) and his followers Cyrus Arnold, Britton Sear, and Catherine Davis mow down student and faculty alike, and quickly take the rest of the inhabitants of the school by hostage. Being in the bathroom at the time, May is able to roam free and enact some of her father’s teachings. Meanwhile, the best friend who has a crush on her (Olly Sholotan) is forced by the young terrorists to film everything. Treat Williams and Barbara Crampton are wasted as a local lawman and teacher, respectively.

 

Although initially watchable to some extent, this 2021 school shooting film from writer-director Kyle Rankin (who previously made the enjoyably schlocky “Infestation”) soon becomes absurdly unrealistic and frankly problematic. Why problematic? Well, it’s produced by a company featuring several Conservatives including the infamous Ben Shapiro, and when you find that out you realise just what’s going on here. Instead of just being another “Toy Soldiers” with a little “Hanna” thrown in, what Rankin and his right-wing chums have given us here is an ‘arm the teachers/students’ plea. Yep. Right-wing ‘murica, where if you don’t pick up a gun and ‘defend’ yourself/others through violence you’re a commie pinko liberal wimp, I guess. Or about as helpful as the baton-wielding security guard here who pisses his pants. Sigh. I should also add that the deer that gets killed in the opening of the film…is a real deer that gets really killed for the purposes of a fictional film about the genius idea of arming fucking teachers and students. Apparently several crew members left in disgust after the deer killing. I don’t remotely blame them.

 

For the most part it’s all a bit silly and implausible, to be honest. The killers are played in over-the-top fashion as opposed to some of the more grounded protagonists. I mean, was being suspended really meant to be the catalyst for all of this? It comes off as such a flippant remark in the film that I didn’t buy it, but then Mr. Shapiro is a pretty snarky guy at the best of times and Rankin’s previous work is hardly indicative of a filmmaker with serious concerns or ambitions. I definitely didn’t buy the terrorists letting the hostages film things on their cell phones and put things on social media. How can they be sure none of them will call the cops? Also, I’m pretty sure if you crash a van through the cafeteria window, the entire school populace is going to hear it. Outside of all of that…I mean, it’s not exactly an uninteresting film, and some of the characters are interesting and appealing enough to make you wish the film were better. Lead actress Isabel May is pretty solid and as her best friend, Olly Sholotan is really likeable. Thomas Jane is fine as the hunter/sniper father, but his would-be heroics in the final act are as absurd as the unlikely ‘face turn’ by one of the shooters around the same time.

 

Silly and frankly on-the-nose school shooting/hostage film with a seriously warped and dangerous message driving it. Some of it isn’t bad, a lot of it kinda is and its message simply isn’t helpful at all. Was this really worth making?

 

Rating: C-