It does not, however, explain how a large white van stuffed with explosives can crash into the school cafeteria at lunchtime and a gang of four machine-gun-wielding miscreants can jump out and open fire on their classmates, without a single adult or anyone in the whole rest of the school catching on for what seems like an eternity, or at least double-math. And it sort of justifies why some of the teachers whom a bloodsoaked Zoe will try to warn about the danger, will assume she’s just pranking them and continue teaching their classes. This accounts for the film’s few mildly inspired ideas, such as a stairwell that one student has turned into a slip-n-slide, and a teacher’s breakroom filled to the ceiling with balloons, which will at least provide an unusual backdrop for some carnage later. You know, to heal.Īt school, to which she’s driven by her best friend Lewis ( Olly Sholotan), who according to some of the words written in the script is pining for Zoe’s romantic attention, it’s Senior Prank Day. John McClane school of grief therapy, a high school bloodbath may just provide her with the means to accept a prom date proposal, finally take off her dad’s combat jacket and cease chatting to her imaginary mother. What could possibly happen that will help Zoe Move On and Let Her Mom Go? According to this screenplay’s psychology, which appears to have been written in accordance with the tenets of the Dr.
The source of her angst, it’s soon revealed, is the recent death of her mother ( Radha Mitchell, see comment re: Thomas Jane), presumably from caffeine-related cancer given that every time she pops up for a cozy little afterlife chat with her daughter, no matter how many dead bodies are littering the ground all around, she’s clutching a coffee mug. We know this from the get-go because on an early morning hunting trip, shot in grimly graded gray-green, before her army vet Dad ( Thomas Jane, who ought to know better) has even finished his Foreshadowing Life Lesson about how it’s kinder to finish off a wounded animal rather than let it die in pain, Zoe has staved in the head of the deer in question with a rock. Truculent high school senior Zoe ( Isabel May, giving off some major Hayden Panettiere vibes) has Serious Issues. READ MORE: 2020 Venice Film Festival Preview: All The Must-See Films To Watch With “Run Hide Fight” it’s difficult to find anything but. Premiering on the Lido – admittedly so far Out of Competition it’s probably halfway to Croatia by now – as part of a pandemic-era Venice lineup otherwise notable for almost across-the-board high quality, “Run Hide Fight” did, in fairness, come as something of a relief to those members of the press audience who might have been beginning to wonder if sheer gratitude for being here at all was clouding their ability to find fault with films. Presumably, that person was Kyle Rankin, writer-director of the staggeringly misguided, deeply noxious “ Run Hide Fight.” But let’s not wholly exonerate all the friends, collaborators, script-readers, caterers, mailmen, grocers, friendly passersby, and supportive family pets who may have had a hand, however slight, in helping this thing to come to pass. So somebody somewhere one day had a thought: “What if ‘Die Hard’ except a school shooting?” and not only didn’t they immediately check themselves for other symptoms of lead poisoning but thought, “Yep, that’s a winner” and went on to make the movie.