‘You Can’t Run Forever’ Review – An Energetic Psychological Thriller That Doesn’t Reach Its Full Potential

It doesn’t matter what kind of genre – drama, action or crime – or production format – films, television series or even a play – J.K. Simmons takes on, he will undoubtedly nail his part. You can be certain of that. Not only works such as Whiplash, One Days as a Lion and Being the Ricardos prove that point, but also his latest feature, directed by his wife Michelle Schumacher (I’m Not Here, The Boy). In You Can’t Run Forever, Simmons brings a chilling intensity to his role as a gun-wielding killer, engaging in a thrilling and dangerous cat-and-mouse game with his on-screen female prey. Sadly, the movie as a whole doesn’t live up to the high stakes of this game.

Not because this feature is a family affair – one of Simmons’ co-stars is his daughter, his son provided the score, and Randle Schumacher is the film’s producer – you’ll see many joyful family scenes. Instead, you witness a ruthless killer Wade, played by Simmons, being on the loose, going after everyone who crosses his path. He wants to kill, can kill, and so he will do it! It doesn’t matter whether it’s people chosen at random (just the unfortunate characters in that impactful and very memorable and blasting opening scene) or the anxiety-ridden Miranda (Isabelle Anaya), who he will be chasing vigorously throughout the entirety of this move , he never lets go of his targets. 

You might not know the reasons behind his actions until closer to the end, but one thing you can be sure of is that Simmons embodies the terrifying assailant perfectly. Wade’s menacing character trait and his sense of dark humour are translated to the screen impeccably, and the interaction with his victims certainly heightened the daunting level even more. It would have been fantastic if we could have seen much more of Simmons during the chase and not only during the first scene and the last act of the feature. While Anaya (The Rookie: Feds, Donny’s Bar Mitzvah) doesn’t have many lines, as she mainly runs and hides from Wade, she delivers the physically and emotionally challenging role with a lot of power and screen presence.

Because of those two strong lead performances, this movie could have become a haunting one that will have the audience in its grip for the entire time. Sadly, this film isn’t that for the complete 100%. Schumacher may lack confidence in the script co-written by Carolyn Carpenter (The Floor, Film Talk with AJ Dean) or the tension they can create together.

 The ‘predator vs prey’ concept is powerful, especially when set in dark woods. The forest becomes a character on its own, giving the film a much more claustrophobic and isolated feeling. One of the titles the writers had in mind was The Woods, which would have fitted this work beautifully, too. Despite that perfect setting, Schumacher doesn’t fully allow the audience to embrace its suspense. Whenever a scene is getting under your skin and makes you feel as anxious as Miranda herself, the filmmaker decides to throw in some scenes involving Jenny, Miranda’s nine-month-pregnant mother, who’s worried sick about her daughter, and the search team, including Miranda’s stepsister Emily (Olivia Simmons).

Schumacher interrupts much more towards the end to highlight some of Wade’s problems and choices, which are the motivations behind his cruel actions. While having a bit more background story is always a good thing, it does decrease the chase’s speed and intensity. With the multiple storylines, Schumacher wants to create a feature that’s both an anxiety-inducing chase and a family drama, but it becomes neither. 

Also, not all narrative choices will pay off in the end. The young cops leading the search for Wade and Anaya feel more like a parody than real police officers because of the odds and choices they make during the investigation. Maybe them being out of their depth adds a layer of urgency and helplessness to the movie. Still, because of their inexperience, the film overstays its welcome a little bit with a too-long runtime of over 100 minutes. Some scenes also didn’t have the desired effect on the audience. The night scene in which Miranda eats some wild mushrooms doesn’t make you feel as trippy as the mushrooms would. While scenes like that aren’t necessarily bad or misplaced, they just take away the gripping effect from other scenes that are intense and cleverly made. 

While the feature starts off as a solid chase film and ends on a high, it muddles in the middle. The many unnecessary cuts and questionable choices from both the writing team and the cinematography take a little bit away from the powerful vibe. However, while the fierceness of the first scene isn’t running through the full movie, You Can’t Run Forever is still an energetic psychological thriller with an excellent Simmons as the cold-hearted and obscure lead character.

You Can’t Run Forever is out now in theaters, on digital and on-demand courtesy of Lionsgate