Run Movie Explained (Plot And Ending)

The movie Run is a 2020 psychological drama directed by Aneesh Chaganty, who also brought us interesting films like Searching and Missing. It follows the story of a wheelchair-bound girl who is supported by her seemingly struggling single mother. But one day, she discovers there are some secrets in that household that could shatter her life. The film raises some questions, so here’s the plot and ending of the movie Run explained; spoilers ahead.

Contents

Here are links to the key aspects of the movie:

• – Plot Explained
• – Diane Sherman’s Past
• – The Truth About Chloe
• – Tom, the mailman
• – The Syringe
• – Ending Explained

Run Movie: Plot Explained

The movie Run follows Chloe who realizes her mother stole her from the hospital after the death of her own baby. She keeps Chloe sick to prevent her from finding the truth. The climax of the movie sees Chloe discovering the the truth, being saved by the authorities, and exacting revenge on her fake mother.

Run begins with Diane giving birth to a premature baby, which is kept on a ventilator. We’re given the definition of 5 medical conditions: arrhythmia, asthma, diabetes, etc. After that, we cut straight to years later. Diane lives with her ailing daughter Chloe, who is home-schooled because of the medical conditions that she has listed in the previous cut.

One day, Chloe discovers a bunch of pills in Diane’s name in a shopping bag. Later that night, Chloe notices that Diane has given her the pill. Chloe confronts her mother, saying the green and grey pill is not hers, but her mother’s. Diane convinces Chloe that only the receipt is in Diane’s name, but the prescription is Chloe’s.

Chloe is not convinced and snoops around to notice that the pill bottles have Chloe’s label on top of Diane’s for the green and grey pill called Trigoxin. Late at night, Chloe tries to read up on the medicine, but Diane has disconnected the internet. Making a random call to a stranger, Chloe figures out that Trigoxin is a drug for arrhythmia but is a red pill and not a green and grey one.

Chloe suggests they go out for a movie, and under the pretext of going to the bathroom, Chloe heads out to the nearby pharmacy and convinces the store lady to disclose what the green and grey pills are. She says it’s Ridocaine, which is for dogs to alleviate leg pain, and that if humans took it, they’d experience numbness in the legs. Diane shows up and drugs Chloe and takes her home, and locks her up. Chloe breaks out and seeks the help of the mailman, Tom. Diane drugs him, too, and chains Chloe in the basement.

Plot Hole Alert!!

It’s a little ridiculous that Diane locks Chloe with every piece of evidence lying around, which is needed to know the exact truth about the past and the present (including all the hidden college acceptances). Yet when Diane returns, she’s shocked that Chloe knows the reality. This portion of the film feels like it was done only to let the audience know what the plot twist was, and it was far too conveniently placed for the film to move along.

Run Movie: What did Diane Sherman do with the baby?

From convenient pieces of evidence, Chloe learns that Diane gave birth to a baby that lived only a couple of hours. Before leaving the hospital, Diane steals another baby and moves town. She names the baby Chloe and raises her as her own daughter. Diane is clearly unstable because she goes on to do the unimaginable to little Chloe.

It’s important to note that we are told nothing about Diane’s past, who her husband or partner was and the source of her wealth. We don’t know if Diane’s mind split because of the death of her baby or if she was already unstable before that. I’d go for door number 2!

Run Movie: Why can’t Chloe walk?

Diane has been drugging Chloe from a very early age with medicines that induce the variety of medical conditions displayed at the beginning of the movie Run. In Reality, Chloe does not have any medical condition; everything she’s been suffering with is a result of the drugs she’s been taking most of her life.

Run Movie: What happened to Tom, the mailman?

The movie gives us enough evidence to say that Diane killed Tom and stashed him somewhere because he knew too much and was a threat to Diane. We see Diane drugging Tom before she gets Chloe. Later, we see blood on Diane’s sleeves. When Chloe notices it, Diane says Tom is fine; he’s just ‘sleeping’.

Run Movie: What was in the syringe?

Diane goes to the store to get some paint thinner. Diane has been reading up on how to make a neurotoxin that can induce amnesia in a person… with thinner, yes indeed! At this point, Diane has clearly lost her mind fully and is ready to do anything to make Chloe forget everything after reasoning with her fails. The syringe contains a homemade toxin that Diane believes can help Chloe forget everything she has learnt in the past few days and go back to living as a ‘happy family’. The reality is that the chemical in the syringe would have killed Chloe.

Chloe locks herself in, picks up a bottle of organophosphate, and gulps it after telling Diane she needs her. As expected, Diane rushes Chloe to the hospital. Unable to speak, Chloe tries to warn the nurse that her fake mom has gone bonkers. Before anything, Diane kills another patient, causing a code blue. Oh yes, she did! In the commotion, Diane leaves with Chloe. However, the nurse reads Chole’s writing that reads “Mom”. Realizing what has happened, the nurse calls security.

Before Diane can leave with Chloe, the security guards stop her. Because she’s armed and threatens to fire, they shoot her, and Diane has a terrible fall down the stairs but survives.

Run Movie Ending Explained: What does Chloe do to Diane?

Chloe, who can now walk a little (because she’s off drugs), is shown visiting her fake mom once a month. The ending of the movie run discloses that Chloe is now smuggling in and forcing pills on Diane, which is keeping her immobilized and sick, perpetually hindering any recovery from the fall. While the initial part of the conversation seems to be that Chloe might have reconciled with Diane, the truth is far from it. Chloe is looking for revenge, which she’s going to dish out over a long time to come.

What were your thoughts on the plot and ending of the movie Run? Did you like it, did you have a problem with the plot hole as well? Drop your comments!