Runner (2021)

Directed by Marian Mathias
Feature In-Production

Website

Runner follows Haas, an eighteen-year-old girl raised by a single father in Missouri. When her father suddenly dies she is left to bury him alone. In order to meet the terms of his will, she must bring him to the town where he was born, a community battling both the stresses of climate and economy.

In this region, along the Mississippi River, hundreds of bridges are closed because of old age.Cars cannot drive through swamps and heavy rains. Storms trap people in their houses for weeks. And this happens to Haas upon her arrival with her father; his burial is postponed due to rain. With nowhere else to go, she stays at an inn belonging to a lonely cinephile named Baggy.

Though a hermit himself, Baggy encourages others to go out and see the world: a view very much restricted from this town. And it is during her extended, unexpected time here when she meets Will.

Will is in the region working to support his mother whose eyesight is failing her. Will has an artistic soul, but one tethered to the harsh reality of his circumstances. Will is drawn to Haas and Haas is drawn to Will. Will teaches Haas to live and Haas teaches Will to feel. It is in their friendship, their shared expression of living, where Haas’ understanding of love and loss begins to take shape.