In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.

An Agatha Christie esque murder mystery about a murder that takes place in a theatre that is currently showing ‘The Mousetrap’, an Agatha Christie murder mystery, is about as meta as it comes in the delightfully witty ‘See How They Run’. This is a movie that both pays homage to the whodunnit genre, whilst finding clever ways to subvert it, aided and definitely abetted by a super ensemble cast led by Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell’s mismatched detectives. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, ‘See How They Run’ breezes by, barely wasting a moment, and there’s much to enjoy here whether you’re a fan of the whodunnit genre or not.

The film begins with Adrien Brody’s film director narrating the circumstances of his own murder, explaining how he’d planned to take the successful West End production to the big screen before someone had other ideas. This enables us to be introduced to the rest of the cast, which includes the actors and actresses from the theatre production (hello Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sims!), the producers, and the screenwriter and producer of the proposed cinematic adaptation. As is fitting for the genre, there isn’t a shortage of motives or potential murders for our detectives to work with. The story plays out much as you’d expect with the detectives investigating leads, finding dead ends, and learning some shocking secrets along the way, but what really makes ‘See How They Run’ sparkle is through two key aspects. The first is its cast and more specifically Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell, who are an absolute delight opposite each other – everyone is clearly having a ball. Secondly, it’s the script and the writing, which knows exactly which beats to hit, but also how to inject humour and knowing winks that manages to both hew to the expected formula whilst poking fun at its cliches.

‘See How They Run’ is an enjoyable little film that is so well constructed and cast, that it’s hard not to warm to, and I had a really good time checking it out.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Tom George

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, David Oyelowo, Charlie Cooper and Shirley Henderson

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt13640696/