See How They Run
Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: September 16, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinKaren GordonSep 15, 2022
This is the feature film debut of veteran television director Tom George, and his experience directing comedy shows in the perfect comedy timing here. There are small bits that turn into running jokes through the movie. Then again George was given a lot to work with by screenwriter Mark Chappell, whose tight script uses every genre cliche in the service of clever fun. And this top-notch cast is a joy to watch. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenSep 15, 2022
See How They Run is the Saoirse Ronan show. Start to finish. Top to bottom, Now and forever. Amen. Read full review
80
NMEJames MottramSep 12, 2022
If you’re looking for a good-old fashioned romp, stylishly made and frequently hilarious, this ticks all the boxes. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Nick JamesSep 11, 2022
It’s a fine, if mild, escapist hoot. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeSep 9, 2022
See How They Run is not quite so self-regarding as Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound, but See How They Run is a delightful, shamelessly affectionate deconstruction of ChristieLand that outstays not a second of its welcome. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 9, 2022
Mark Chappell’s script has a refreshingly high laugh-rate as these things go, with a seam of pure English silliness that sets it well apart from Knives Out, without gunning for anything like that league of plot ingenuity. It’s closer, really, to doing for Christie what Scream did for the slasher flick – goosing the formula with winks and tickles. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerSep 7, 2022
It works better as a weird relationship movie than a murder-mystery but See How They Run is the whodunnit as hoot, with lots of laughs, oodles of style and played with verve by a quality cast. It also reconfirms Saoirse Ronan as a comedy god. Read full review
80
VarietyAmy NicholsonSep 7, 2022
See How They Run is a retro homage that surprises audiences with giggles and suspense. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 7, 2022
There’s a very entertaining daftness and theatre nerdery to See How They Run (the title sounds uncomfortably like Run For Your Wife) as director Tom George takes the same approach to The Mousetrap that Ken Russell took to The Boyfriend: playing up the artificiality of it all. The comedy is shallow in the right way, and Rockwell’s bleary world-weariness contrasts nicely with Ronan’s saucer-eyed idealism. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 16, 2022
This is yet another meta story with the characters commenting on the story as it goes along, and while that gimmick is becoming tiresome, this is solidly constructed piece of lightweight entertainment with terrific period-piece costumes and sets, and suitably theatrical performances from a talented cast that is clearly enjoying itself while delivering a quality spoof. Read full review
75
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerSep 15, 2022
See How They Run feels like it was designed in a lab to please fans of this genre, with Mark Chappell’s script keenly identifying the most beloved tropes of classic murder mysteries while playing with them just enough for freshness. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 15, 2022
In terms of humor, See How They Run is more amusing than outrageous. Outside of the few instances of slapstick and physical comedy, it is designed to generate smiles (rather than provoke belly laughs). The script is clever and silly at the same time. (That may seem contradictory but it’s not.) Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 13, 2022
The colorful characters of Stoppard and Stalker loom large here, as detectives so often do — Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple — in such fare. But even larger is the shadow cast by Christie’s 1952 play, which provides a fun backdrop, if one rendered irreverently, for this diverting puzzle within a puzzle. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredScott CampbellSep 15, 2022
If you’re not a big fan of whodunnits, potboilers, or period pieces, then See How They Run isn’t exactly going to convert you. However, if you get on the same wavelength as a deliberately oxymoronic slice of escapism that melds the modern with the classic, the self-aware with the archetypal, and the subtle with the overindulgent, then there’s a distinct possibility you’ll end up with a smile plastered across your face when the lights come up. Read full review
70
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeSep 15, 2022
With a sprightly wit and an all-star cast to bring it to life, the movie manages to be a loving parody of theater gossips, postwar London and Christie’s murder mysteries all at once. Read full review
70
IGNMatt DonatoSep 14, 2022
Tom George succeeds in telling an excitably ambiguous case within a self-deprecating whodunit satire, even when employing the easiest tricks in the manual. Read full review
70
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiSep 7, 2022
Is it exceptionally groundbreaking? No. But it's fun, and frothy, and clever enough that it makes for an easygoing hour and a half watch. Read full review
69
Paste MagazineKevin Fox, Jr.Sep 15, 2022
Despite effectively crafting character conflicts and jokes around the messy business of moving life to the stage and then moving it from the stage to the screen, See How They Run feels like it’s missing some punch. It’s certainly clever, but almost too much so. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonSep 14, 2022
Ultimately, See How They Run is too reverent to its forebears and too toothless in its satire to elevate beyond an overly self-aware genre exercise—competent enough, but all too eager to shoot any attempted subtlety dead where it stands. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerSep 12, 2022
If you're not au fait with the scandalous yet prim world of the 1950s West End, See How They Run is still a silly if slight affair, playful without ever being weighty, and mostly given a sense of giddiness by Rockwell's gruff detective and Ronan as his determined if doubting assistant. Read full review
63
PolygonOli WelshSep 16, 2022
See How They Run is neither as clever as the creators think it is, nor as stupid as it sometimes pretends to be. It doesn’t have much to say about whodunits other than “Wouldn’t it be funny if they existed inside their own world?” And yes, it turns out, it would Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNell MinowSep 16, 2022
All the stylishness and enthusiasm cannot disguise the fact that the mystery itself never comes close to those concocted by Dame Agatha. Then again, no one else has topped her either. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneySep 15, 2022
Whenever Ronan’s not on the screen, “See” seems to lose something. It’s no mystery why. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiSep 9, 2022
The film breaks little new ground but is at least a notable improvement on, well, The Mousetrap. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 7, 2022
Oh, it’s not as clever as it thinks it is. And truthfully, for a “romp” it only occasionally romps. But See How They Run is still a warm, witty and winning old fashioned “whodunit” and an equally old-fashioned “theater” comedy, pronounced “THEE-a-turr” in the British style. I found it an old fashioned hoot. Read full review
60
ABC NewsPeter TraversSep 16, 2022
There's nothing ground-breaking about this backstage murder mystery in 1953 London. Dig under the froth and you'll only find more froth. But thanks to the inspired lunacy of Rockwell and Ronan, it's a wicked fun whodunit that goes down easy. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreySep 7, 2022
The film’s so plain in its ambitions – in its sense of giddy, well-intentioned fun – that it feels a little pointless to scorn its more superficial choices. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneNina MetzSep 14, 2022
Directed by Tom George from a screenplay by Mark Chappell, “See How They Run” is a throwback with a smirk. Or put more diplomatically: An old school whodunit reconceived as a farce. It’s self-referential (the characters end up snowed in at a country estate, just like in “The Mousetrap”) and simultaneously poking fun at the murder mystery form while also paying homage. If only it were actually funny! Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSep 14, 2022
Directed by veteran British television director Tom George, “See How They Run” won’t impress demanding viewers, but acts as an a rather agreeable placeholder until the next “Knives Out” movie arrives. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 13, 2022
It’s all very British, enough so they should serve tea and crumpets during screenings. Some of it is also entertaining. Just not enough. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 13, 2022
For all its showy, whirring machinations, the film isn’t especially light on its feet — and its murder mystery isn’t very engrossing. Read full review
50
IndieWireJude DrySep 7, 2022
See How They Run packs a lot of characters into a thin story that leaves little room for the considerable talent to stand out. It may be inspired by the greatest mystery writer of all time, but it’s an uninspired copy at best. Read full review
50
ColliderEmma KielySep 7, 2022
All in all, See How They Run is a derivative amalgamation of too much tribute and too little originality. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun and the perfect film to bring your Nana to, but it's ultimately pretty forgettable. Read full review
42
The PlaylistJason BaileySep 7, 2022
Comedy is all about timing, and the timing here is all off, so the laughs are disturbingly few. What a missed opportunity this is. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithSep 15, 2022
As directed by Tom George from a script by Mark Chappell, See How They Run hits like a watered-down cocktail rather than a bracing belt of intrigue. Read full review
40
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonSep 15, 2022
Tom George returns to directing, attempting to take on the genre with humor and flair. Relying heavily on whodunit tropes, See How They Run is a little too stale and unfunny for its own good. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 7, 2022
Its chief merit is the rare opportunity it provides Saoirse Ronan to showcase her skills with bubbly comedy, making her the standout in a ridiculously overqualified ensemble. But despite the promise of that title, this wheezing romp slows to a limp. Read full review
40
Little White LiesHannah StrongSep 7, 2022
Failing to capture the wit or intelligence of Christie, See How They Run instead relies on tired stereotypes about women and gay men, and in an ensemble full of talented actors, there’s barely a compelling performance to be found. Read full review
40
TheWrapDan CallahanSep 7, 2022
See How They Run lies as dead on the screen as the corpse of its murdered movie director. Read full review
25
The Associated PressMark KennedySep 14, 2022
The filmmakers employ all kinds of ways to try to keep viewers interested, like split screens, some farce and a surreal dream sequence, but there’s not enough humor or grit or anything other than actors swanning around in period clothing. Read full review
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