[2020 is finally over but before we send it off to the trash heap it deserves to be in, it’s time for the Golden Cages 2020 edition, Flixist’s extremely coveted prize! Each year the Flixist staff gets together to vote on the best and worst films of the year and gives you lovely readers our true and honest thoughts. Plus since there are no other awards shows this winter (suck it Academy!) we’re now the defacto voice of truth in the film industry. So read on dear viewer and see which films win our lovely little award!]
Once most of the major releases of the year were shuffled onto streaming services, the number of movies that could justifiably be called “underrated” skyrocketed. With content being divided between numerous fiefdoms, one could make an argument that unless you had access to every streaming service under the sun, countless movies could fly under your radar just because you didn’t have access to one particular streaming service. 2020 really was the wild west of digital releases, with cinephiles grabbing onto anything to give them some relief from the pandemic ravaging across the world.
Despite the digital push, I have a sneaking suspicion that even if Run released to theaters as originally intended, it probably still would have been given the Golden Cages winner for Most Underrated Film of 2020. It’s a thriller with an exceptionally small cast that was more interested in setting up mood and atmosphere than anything else. We’re clued in from the very beginning that something isn’t quite right with the relationship between Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen, but the slowly doled out revelations helped engross me into the world and kept me guessing what would come next.
As is usually the case with thrillers like these, it’s best to go into them as blind as possible, but a neat little inclusion to the proceedings is the focus on Allen being wheelchair-bound, which is even more compelling given Allen’s real-life disability. It makes Run stand out from all of the other horror and thrillers released in 2020 since it portrayed a type of character that we typically don’t see in movies; mainly more disabled actors/actresses. I’m not saying this in order to score woke points or anything like that, but it’s the same reason why A Quiet Place was so immensely interesting when it released back in 2019. It created an environment where a character’s disability was fundamental to the viewing experience and is helped to engross the audience into the film’s world.
It’s just a shame that Run was held captive, as it were, on Hulu. Sure, it’s a major streaming platform with a larger install base than Quibi, but to hold such a riveting movie away from a wider audience is a real shame. Then again, there was no guarantee that the movie would have done well if it released to theaters, so maybe Run is best served as being a little diamond in the rough as it were, one worthy for the Golden Cages.
