What do you get when you take Knives Out, throw in a dash of Inception, and hide a measure of “the moral of the story?” Something remarkably like See How They Run.
See How They Run is a murder mystery wrapped in a murder mystery, wrapped in a modern-day morality play sporting an all-star cast. Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan headline as the rugged and cynical Inspector Stoppard and the young and impressionable Constable Stalker, but the supporting cast members are no slouches either.
This month, Eve and I set our sights on what we thought was a campy murder mystery, only to be surprised by a poignant warning regarding the fictionalization of actual events and the damage they can do to the victims.
See How They Run is directed by Tom George with an enjoyable score by Daniel Pemberton. Mr. Pemberton has done some incredible work in the past, notably Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse, for which he received an International Film Music Critics Award nomination. Even movies that at least one notable critic thought were terrible could be lifted from the muck of inanity by Pemberton’s mastery.
Pemberton shows his excellent range with an unusual mix of jazz and other styles to produce a sound right at home with the movie yet different enough to feel new and fresh.
First Impression
While murder mysteries are more my thing than Eve’s, we enjoyed the movie. While there are elements of mystery in the story, See How They Run turned out to be more homage to the genre as a whole than a murder mystery in itself. It sported quite a bit more comedy than it did carnage.
The humor was a bit more touch-and-go, though. It wasn’t a failing on the actor’s part, but more likely hinges on how well the audience receives this interesting style of British humor. In online reviews, there was very little middle ground. Folks either liked it or hated it.
Part of the charm was the feeling that the production didn’t take itself too seriously—common in British humor. Screenwriter Mark Chappell wrote the script in a way that telegraphed the story’s secrets yet allowed us to find the humor and enjoyment in how events played out. He takes the obvious and the broadcast and uses it like a basketball’s backboard: everything rebounds off what we know and expect to rebound in an unexpected direction.
The saddest part of the movie for us was how empty the theater was. When Eve and I each saw the film, we were the only members of our respective audiences. It goes to show how important the marketing of a movie can be. Bring all the star power you want to a movie, but fail to market it correctly, and it will still under perform.
Sam Rockwell is a remarkable actor who brings his fantastic range and nuance to this movie, but too few people will ever see it.
One of the most intriguing bits of trivia Eve read when preparing for our recording was that the play The Mousetrap was initially supposed to have the title Three Blind Mice, which the killer hums near the end of the play. Unfortunately, Christie could not use the song’s title, so instead, she used The Mousetrap. When they titled See How They Run, they returned to the same well and used the second line in that child’s song.
Jumping to Conclusions
The first theme to discuss is the idea of jumping to conclusions. We see it clearly in the trailer; Constable Stalker is constantly leaping to conclusions, to comic effect. But, while it may be funny when the young, impressionable constable does it, rushing to judgment is not funny when we do it or when someone does it to us.
Scripture clearly instructs us to think before we accuse or convict another:
“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)
As we’ve mentioned before, this verse is taken out of context so very, very often. Christ’s instruction here cannot be separated from the gospel the way that so many would seem to prefer. It is not that we should never judge anyone, but that we should remember that only Christ’s atonement stands in the way of our sins, and that same atonement can stand for others’ sins if only they would call on Him. The same applies to other references that say similar things:
Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. (Romans 2:1)
10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 13a Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. (Romans 14:10, 13a)
So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11-12)
When Christians exercise discernment, it should never be to pass judgment but rather to “speak the truth in love, [and] grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15, paraphrased.) We should be seeking to lovingly call sin to the sinner’s attention so that they can embrace a crucial component to salvation: the understanding that we are utterly depraved without Christ’s love. Discernment should always come from a place of love.
We see Constable Stalker jumping to conclusions like we often see new Christians (and sometimes old Christians!) And like Constable Stalker, we need to learn to be discerning through experience and our elders’ guidance.
Women’s Rights and Place in Society
See How They Run does an excellent job of calling women’s rights and expectations to the audience’s attention without beating it over our heads. The early 1950s was an ideal time to set this kind of message, too, because women had just served in all the industry jobs that would have been filled by the men who were sent off to fight. So women had been “forced” out of their jobs after the war, but men were used to seeing them in the workplace.
In See How They Run, we see three stereotypes of women. Constable Stalker is the young and eager, naive and wet behind the ears newcomer. She is a “token hire,” intended only to please the public. Ann Saville is the secretary that has fallen for her married boss, who is stringing her alone with promises that he’ll leave his wife to marry her. Finally, Petula Spencer is a woman determined to “make it” on her own in a man’s world. She has to be strong and heartless in ways contrary to the typical perception of womanhood.
The most intriguing thing is that these three stereotypes still speak to us today.
Token hiring is a practice that is not only rampant but frequently forced on companies by the vocally outraged minority in social media or mainstream media. Progressive state governments have even started passing laws requiring corporations operating in their states to fill a certain percentage of their board positions by different representation blocks. While well-intentioned, this potentially hurts in two ways: First, any time you hire someone other than the best person for the position, however noble the reason, you risk damaging the company. Second, you handicap a person hired for any representative position; being a “token hire” potentially throws the credibility of everyone in their representative group out the window.
In the second stereotype of the secretary, the pendulum has swung the other direction and produced the #MeToo movement. For a while, the campaign was good; it led to many predators’ convictions and [human] justice. But eventually, because all people are fallen, many sought to use the movement to their advantage. People cast false accusations, and the court of public opinion convicted the accused hastily, often despite an utter lack of evidence. Eventually, it leads to what is very much a “boy who cried wolf” scenario where, once again, some who seek justice are ignored because people have grown tired of liars.
The final stereotype seems to lean into the push for transgenderism. A strong woman in a man’s world should dress and act like a man. This way, they can meet their goal and support the LGBTQ+ movement at the same time. The end result is that the idea destroys the very definitions of “man” and “woman.”
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
The Impact of Stealing Real Stories
One of the messages of See How They Run deals with the impact that Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has on the victims of the actual crime on which the play was based. Fictionalizing a true story for entertainment isn’t the same as making a documentary. To write The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie took a real-life sensational murder from about twenty years before and changed the names and places to make it less identifiable. But anyone familiar with the murders—particularly those who lived through them, would recognize them and relive them.
To live through these events again, and again, and again would be cruelty, regardless of intent. The line is further blurred by including historically accurate people in the telling of this fictional story.
The problem is that no format in our entertainment media can give the depth of personality to any character that would be needed to do so in a way that does not cruelly force survivors to relive horrid events. We should never forget that our choices can unintentionally lead others to pain. Sometimes, it cannot be avoided, but when it can be avoided, it should be. In all of Romans 12, Paul instructs us in this manner regarding living with our brothers and sisters in Christ:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:14-18)
All that said, we should remember that “could be true” stories can be powerful tools for instruction and learning:
Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive. (Matthew 13:10-14)
Christ knew that the hearers had not yet received the ability to understand the secrets yet. By putting them into story form, he both revealed these secrets while still concealing them. Stories like See How They Run and Mousetrap both take a serious life lesson and couch it in an entertaining venue, allowing the secret to dawn slowly like a sunrise rather than suddenly, like getting slapped in the face with a fish.
The Most Unlikable Character
See How They Run opens with a post-mortem narration by American director Leo Kopernick in which he bemoans the predictability of the “whodunnit” genre. Before you know he is the victim, he explains that the victim is always the most unlikable character in the story. This way, every other character has the motive to kill him.
While Kopernick seems to go out of his way to make sure no one likes him, it’s important to remember that, as best we can, we should never seek to be disliked by anyone—even our enemies. It may be easy not to be cruel, but we also need to represent Christ, and we can’t do that if we aren’t nice to one another.
Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. (Romans 12:9-10)
Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15)
But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. (Luke 6:35)
And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. (Ephesians 4:32)
It is not us that we want them to love. It’s Christ.
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