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Thirty-two-year-old writer-director Paul Raschid is surely too young to recall the multiple endings of 1985’s Clue or the hotly traded Choose Your Own Adventure books. Perhaps RPGs gave this film-maker a penchant for interactive cinema. Either way, intrepid souls heading to London’s Genesis cinema between now and New Year will hold up glow sticks to determine their path through the woods of Raschid’s latest horror-thriller. The Run demands split-second judgment calls one may not be accustomed to, slumped under a half-ton of popcorn. And there’s a strong possibility you won’t get what you vote for; much like the Guardian wrote of Raschid’s 2022 endeavour The Gallery, this feels like an appositely post-Brexit format.
The path we guide characters down here is literal: we’re directing fitness influencer Zanna (Roxanne McKee) as she circles Lake Garda on what proves an eventful morning jog. The interactive element begins with some light stretches – the audience choose whether she listens to music or a podcast while running, and whether to greet passing locals – before turning existential as our heroine attracts masked pursuers. I felt constitutionally bound to propose kindness wherever possible, but the lively Saturday night audience chose anarchy at most junctures, yielding several chastening false starts and dead ends. Every audience’s mileage will vary; I will say that, collectively, we got what we deserved.
As a 21st-century artefact, The Run does seem clunky. There is scope for Raschid to tighten the cause-and-effect, and some of his dialogue feels rough-edged when it’s not purely functional. As an audience experience, it falls somewhere between an uncommonly adaptable test screening, and dropping by a friendly D&D game.
An athletic McKee makes her big moments count as the character who comes into closest focus. Huntsman Franco Nero and priest Dario Argento lurk in the corners. Unlike many of the technological deviations now plaguing us, this one does feel hand-turned and human-derived, its narrative crowdsourced by definition. And bad losers can always return the following night and make better informed choices – not least profiling their fellow voters going in.
