Run, Hide , Fight (2020)

Run Hide Fight directed by Kyle Rankin, starring Isabel May, Thomas Jayne and Eli Brown is a school shooting action/thriller which is essentially Die Hard in a school. Going into it I was expecting to hate it as it was produced by The Daily Wire an organisation with political views I more than disagree with.

Here's the thing with this movie, as a film it works and I really enjoyed it but it's both overt and covert messaging in places is really not on. 

I could name a few things that definitely had an agenda behind them, in one instance it is implied that one of the shooters is homosexual, which in itself is ok as gay characters can be villains in some films as they can be heroes in others. It's how its done that didn't really work, it's an afterthought and one that feels oddly purposeful. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the film but it does stand out when given the political views of the company it is coming from, however the film mainly focuses on the issue of gun control and this is where its problems lie.

There is one comment regarding the security guard not having a firearm which was definitely a commentary on arming educators and school security. In this instance though I can see why it was included, it is something that could occur in real life and a shooter would taunt them for it.

Narratively it makes sense, although the filmmakers decide to not really lean into the commentary any more than the single remark, it could have made for an interesting scene where both sides of the argument are made, showing the security guard unarmed initially, perhaps he then acquires a gun and accidentally hits the wrong person, or is shot before he has a chance to fire. More could be done with that argument and if you're going to approach it, show both sides.

Of course it is interwoven into the plot that "good guys with guns take down bad guys with guns" but that is literally every American action film ever made and basically the plot to Die Hard, a film which Run, Hide , Fight more than pays homage to.

There are two scenes which really try to push an agenda on the audience and brought the film down in my estimation and those are, when Thomas Jayne is apprehended by police after using a sniper rifle to protect his daughter and when his daughter is arrested when the swat team are confused as to if she is the shooter or not.

The way the latter plays out is that Zoe who has visions of her mother who has passed, hears her mothers voice say "this is the gratitude they show you" after she is arrested. Both scenes are supposed to echo the Kyle Rittenhouse case and we as the viewer are absolutely supposed to make that connection and think "but they're heroes, how can you arrest them". I did not like those scenes one bit, they were very heavy handed, unnecessary and made a really stupid point.

Now, even though I've pointed out some issues I had with the movie. I want to make this really clear, as a film, I really enjoyed it. I try to watch movies like this without too much prejudice, I think it's important to go in with an open mind, at the end of a the day a good film is a good film and Run Hide Fight is certainly a good film. It's well directed and acted and really held my attention throughout. It's problems come down to the underlying message which isn't present in all scenes but is there just under the surface at all times.

Run Hide Fight did a few interesting things with its setting and actually was able to make a couple of good points as well. The shooters instead of going in and massacring the entire school from the get go try to make the attack appear like a hostage situation. The reason for this is because they are so well versed with the difference in police protocol when responding to a school shooting versus a hostage situation. The shooters have sat through school shooting drills for years and they know the procedure inside and out. It was a very clever addition that made total sense. 

The main villain Tristan played by Eli Brown is charismatic and a lot of fun to watch and I really liked Isabel May as Zoe. I have very few complaints about the movie and while I disagree with the vast majority of its message I had a good time watching it and I can't lie and say that I didn't.