‘The Runner’ Review: ‘Boy Harsher’s Film Is One Long Music Video’

The Runner (2022)

Directed By: Boy Harsher

Starring: Kris Esfandiari, Sigrid Lauren, Cooper B. Handy

Plot Summary:  The Runner follows a strange woman as she travels to a secluded, rural town where her violent compulsions are slowly revealed. The story intertwines with band Boy Harsher performing on a public access channel. Their music scores the strange woman’s descent deeper into the unknown.

The term vanity project is the first thing that came to mind after watching The Runner. The driving reason for the film is simply to showcase the indie electronic band Boy Harsher. The entirety of the 38-minute short film is a series of songs/performances with what could very generously be called a “story” stitching it altogether. The “film” is mostly an over long music video which clearly is a gore-soaked love letter to the works of Bava and more specifically Dario Argento.

This kind of homage to giallo is nothing new. In fact, the trend peaked and fizzled out in the mid-late ‘00s. The Editor, Amer, The Strange Colors of Your Body’s Tears are just a sampling of modern giallo inspired outings. So frustratingly, nothing that groundbreaking or new is happening here. Also, to be clear, I don’t mind that this movie is pretty shameless in promoting an indie band. You know what? Good on them. However, you should also be able to tell a clever and interesting story to go with it. What we get is a pretty aimless overly outing that is fairly shameless when it comes to just being a vehicle for self-promotion.

If I’m being fair I actually did quite like the music but, it’s hard not to resent sitting through a slog of an advertisement.

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Mike Vaughn

Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.