1953, London’s West End and Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is celebrating its hundredth performance. However the whodunnit play is about to have a real life whodunnit within it when the Hollywood director tasked with adapting it into a film is murdered in the theatre. 

The cast of characters are led by world weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and his energetic but naive partner Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan). Their relationship is the biggest joy of the film and is the beating heart at its core. Whilst the possible suspects and victims include the aforementioned director (Adrien Brody), an overrated writer (David Oyelowo), a theatre entrepreneur (Ruth Wilson), a producer (Reece Sheersmith) and the star of the play Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson). All of whom have suitable character flaws that would lend them to being victims. 

See How They Run is a knowing wink of a farce that satirises the genres of film that it is. There is sharp wordplay and lots of commentary on the structure of murder mysteries and police procedurals. If you would laugh at someone lamenting the use of flashbacks only for the film to immediately jump to a title card saying “Three Months Earlier” then this is for you. Stylistically it is at times reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film except for the fact that the script is constantly aware of the nods and winks it is making to the structure. Whilst the fun that it takes in its disparate group of possible murderers is only matched recently by the likes of Knives Out. 

The biggest let down though is the reveal of the killer which frankly felt like a damp squib. However everything around it is pretty fun and interesting.