Man Running (2019)

Gary Burns made one of my favourite films of all time, Waydowntown. His The Suburbanators and Radiant City are also great films. I was excited to hear he was putting out a new fiction film and Man Running lived up to my expectations. Surreal and almost Lynchian, Man Running is a film that deals with pain and grief and hard decisions. And it does so without compromising by finding easy answers. Instead it lets us sit with these feelings.

Man Running is surprisingly uneasy. Burns finds a way of telling this story which doesn't take the easy way. He sprinkles horror tropes along his story to emphasize just how difficult some of these questions are. Man Running is remarkable in how powerful it is.

It is also remarkable in how beautiful it is. Burns knows southern Alberta and uses the beauty of the Rockies to his fullest advantage. He films is magnetically, finding both terror and inspiration in the woods. He effortlessly and seamlessly swings between different cinematographic styles exploring the mixed emotions of his character. Man Running is stunningly beautiful.

As soon as it was over I wanted to watch Man Running again. I wanted to reflect on it knowing where it went to see what I could glean the second time. Man Running will sit with me for a while long after I have finished watching it.

Man Running 
Starring: Gord Rand, Milli Wilkinson
Writer/Director: Gary Burns