Published October 6, 2024

You may hear a lot about “The Outrun” in the coming days and weeks, and not just because of Saoirse Ronan. But as in almost every movie she’s in, she’s probably the main reason.

“The Outrun” opened Friday. I recommend it, with the caution that it won’t be an easy watch for many people.

It’s a good idea to read about the movie (and the book) before deciding whether to see it.

My friend Adriana Cloud helps people break their dependence on alcohol. It’s been more than four years since I had what I call an adult beverage (the last time was September 18, 2020, which was 1,478 days ago), but I subscribe to her newsletter and think a lot about the things that control and consume us, that control and consume me.

For most of the past four years, I made sure to add that I didn’t quit because I thought I was an alcoholic. I quit when my doctor told me alcohol was impeding my transition. That’s all I needed to here, and I was done.

But it doesn’t matter whether you think I’m an alcoholic. What matters to me is that I decided it was no longer something I wanted or needed in my life, and I did something about it.

I know it’s not that easy for most people who want to stop. “The Outrun” is a movie about one such person. There are many more.

Here’s a snapshot

There’s a spoiler-ish thing I read Friday night before seeing the movie. It’s as good a minimalist snapshot of “The Outrun” as I can imagine.

The Washington Post had this closing paragraph in its review:

As for relevance if you don’t have a drinking problem, there’s this in the review in The New York Times: Not everyone is an addict, but everyone has something that threatens to take them down. Life doesn’t get easy. It just gets less hard.

You and I probably agree that often, and for many, life doesn’t get less hard. But I get the paraphrasing of a line from the movie you may have heard on the YouTube link, so I’ll allow it, I suppose, in a “writing is hard” kind of way.

The quote that will stay with me, though, is also in the trailer:

But, there is only so much height a wave can sustain before it comes crashing down.”

We are all, I imagine, somewhere between our best days and our worst days, our best version of ourselves and our worst, chasing what we hope is sustainable. I believe Saoirse Ronan when she’s playing all of the above.