I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu, Game of Thrones’ Stephen Dillane and Slow Horses’ Saskia Reeves also star.
Saoirse Ronan is starring in an upcoming film about addiction, nature and the human spirit – and now we have an official trailer for the project.
Directed by German filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher) and based on Amy Liptrot’s acclaimed 2015 memoir, the movie follows Rona (Ronan), a young woman grappling with addiction who returns to the Orkney Islands in Scotland after a decade.
As her journey to sobriety unfolds, Rona begins to find strength among the beauty and brutality of the tiny isle off the coast of Scotland.
Speaking about how filming on locations on Orkney influenced the film, she told The Hollywood Reporter: “By the time we got to Papa Westray, there was a real contentment.
“This was at the tail end of COVID — we had all come out of multiple lockdowns — so to be able to reconnect with a smaller community, to be around friendly faces, we were grateful. All of that just very organically inspired the performance.
“We shot in [Amy’s] home, and we shot on her farm. We got to know her father, who still lives on the farm.
“When Stephen [Dillane] and I were shooting scenes between Amy and her dad, her dad was around, so that was quite a surreal experience. I think it was very helpful for the cast to be reminded that it is a real story, and that it belongs to real people.”
The trailer gives fans a first look at Rona’s journey to recovery as she returns to the Orkney Islands and slowly begins to link herself to the land.
“Sometimes you can hear a vibration in Orkney,” the character says in the footage, before continuing, “A low rumble. It takes over the whole island. And every part of your body. But there is only so much height any wave can sustain before it comes crashing down.”
Published in 2016, Liptrot’s memoir won numerous prizes, including the 2016 Wainwright Prize and the 2017 PEN Ackerley Prize.
Read on for everything you need to know about the film, including who joins Ronan in the cast and when we can expect it to land.
The Outrun UK release date
The film will land in UK cinemas on 27th September 2024.
The Outrun doesn’t yet have a US distributor, and so fans in the US will have to wait a little bit longer for an exact release date.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it was met with positive reactions and reviews.
The Outrun cast: Who stars alongside Saoirse Ronan?
Lady Bird and Ammonite star Saoirse Ronan leads the cast of the film as Rona, a recovering alcoholic who’s just left rehab to return to the sheep farm where she grew up on the Orkney Islands.
“It was Amy’s voice that first drew me to The Outrun,” Ronan previously said in a statement.
She continued: “Her unusual way of seeing things in a way that perhaps you only can when you’ve been to the darkest place you can go within yourself.
“I have been waiting to play a part like this – the messiness, hopefulness, dreaminess, authenticity and humour we want to achieve – I’ve been scared of it, but with Nora I feel ready.”
Ronan is joined in the cast by Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project), Saskia Reeves (Slow Horses), Lauren Lyle (Karen Pirie), Nabil Elouahabi (Trigger Point), Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point), Stephen Dillane (Alex Rider) and Jack Rooke (Big Boys).
The Outrun trailer
The trailer gives us a first look at Rona’s journey to recovery.
Ronan’s character says in the footage: “The urge to drink can come out of nowhere. You think you’re doing well, and suddenly you want nothing more than a drink.”
Watch below:
The Outrun will land in UK cinemas on 27th September 2024.
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