I fell for the celebrity trap. I don’t even know if I’m using the right term by saying ‘the celebrity trap’ but I went to see The Outrun on the basis that Saoirse Ronan is in it. That, and I’ve reached the point where I need to start using the free tickets that come with my Curzon Cinemas membership or I’ll lose them. I’ll do my best to crowbar in a couple more before the membership renews and the number of free tickets resets to five – in case anyone was wondering how frequently or infrequently I attend the cinema.
I saw The Fifth Step at the Edinburgh International Festival earlier this year, starring Ronan’s husband Jack Lowden – the couple are co-producers of this film. The play is not too dissimilar, as it goes: both are about alcohol addiction in Scotland, though the play took on more of an urban setting. The film is largely set in Orkney, save for a few bits and pieces set in London, where Ronan’s central character, Rona (yes, really) is studying for a master’s degree in marine biology. It’s not in forward chronological order, which made things, as films that time hop back and forth often do, unnecessarily complicated.
Rona does at least try, even if there are initial moments of denial. Her boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) struggles to cope, particularly after physical injury is involved, and Rona’s ‘never again’ promises ring hollow, because he’s heard them all before. And the time before that. And the time before that. And so on. Getting herself onto a twelve-step programme of some kind (she wanted a residential stay in rehab, but was told the waiting list is very long), she is told in no uncertain terms that there are strict rules regarding the programme – if any of the people in the programme missed a single weekly session for any reason they would be kicked out of the programme. Any meant any – going on holiday, funeral of a relative, contracting Covid-19, being summonsed to attend court – there was no such thing as a legitimate reason not to attend. Consequently, the group leader told them, only about ten per cent would make it through to the end of the programme.
Guess what? Rona makes it and is congratulated by the group, or what’s left of it. But it’s not all plain sailing – personal circumstances, including a father, Andrew (Stephen Dillane) whose bipolar disorder continues to present challenges, and a mother, Annie (Saskia Reeves) who has converted to the Christian faith and offers to pray for the unbelieving Rona, much to Rona’s consternation. It’s bad enough that she must ask, in every recovery meeting, a God she doesn’t believe in to grant her the serenity to accept the things she cannot change and all that.
There are some reflections, voiced over with accompanying imagery, often taking the form of scientific observations from Rona’s field of study: she manages to get some work with the RSPB and their work to monitor endangered species. Saoirse Ronan does an excellent job portraying someone prone to excess drinking: if alcohol apparently brings out a person’s true character (not everyone agrees this is true, of course), then Rona’s raw nature is deeply unpleasant, even if she’s fully capable of civility.
A convincing storyline that reveals a deep, personal and permanent struggle against alcohol addiction, the film is quietly inspiring, with the message that life is worth living despite so many negatives and challenges.
Four stars
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