It’s safe to assume everyone has had a bad date at one point or another. It’s hard to avoid sometimes. A nice romantic evening can go south in so many ways. Personalities probably didn’t click, or maybe a petty argument derailed a friendly conversation, or perhaps someone didn’t want to split the bill. Or one decided to hunt the other down for sport. Okay, maybe not that last one, but it’s the setup for the upcoming horror-thriller Run Sweetheart Run. Starring Ella Balinska and Pilou Asbæk, it’s the latest film from director Shana Feste, whose filmography largely consists of drama films. This will be her first horror title to date.
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Here’s the breakdown for the film’s latest trailer.
A Marked Woman
We open on a gaggle of women leaning over the camera. They’re fawning over a phone held by our leading lady, Cherie (Ella Balinska). Her boss (Clark Gregg) asserts that what they’re looking at is, indeed, a handsome client. Handing the phone back to Cherie, it’s implied that the boss has chosen her to meet with him. We suddenly cut to night: Cherie has switched out her business attire for something a bit more casual as she stands out in front of a castle-like home. A gentle piano starts as Cherie is greeted by Ethan (Pilou Asbæk), who charms her with a warm smile and polite demeanor.
We’re treated to a brief romantic montage. Ethan treats her to sushi at a warmly lit restaurant, hanging lanterns bursting like stars overhead. An avalanche of balloons cascades over Cherie as the two dance at a roller rink. As they return to Ethan’s home, Cherie declares that she’ll stay for just one drink. After she enters, Ethan lingers in the entryway of the home as the camera inches closer. The music stops. Ethan turns to face the camera, his face as dead as a stone. He raises a hand, as if he’s telling the audience directly not to follow him inside. It’s such a sudden fourth-wall break that any sort of pleasantness established so far is immediately gone. Ethan slowly enters the house, shutting the door behind him.
No One Beats Him
Prime Video
Cherie bursts out from the house, panting, limping, bloodied, and shoeless. She gets far enough to reach the city streets before we cut to Cherie and Ethan alone in a tiled room, where Ethan declares that “the only thing that matters now is our game.” Cue more chasing – Cherie runs in an absolute panic while Ethan stalks her with a confident stride, even checking his watch in the middle of it. She ends up in a lit carousel, a grim remnant of the pleasant evening they had prior. Ethan makes his appearance known with a horror sting as she glances into a mirror.
After more disconnected chasing, Cherie comes into contact with other women, one, in particular, claiming that she’s a “marked woman” now. Through footage of Cherie dressing her wounds and donning a new, hardened outfit, we’re given some harrowing information: this isn’t Ethan’s first time. Another woman tells Cherie that the only person who can help her is a “survivor,” as the woman reveals a deep scar on her abdomen.
The stakes elevate beyond just an escape into the night – it’s clear that if Ethan has been able to get away with this before, he holds some kind of power or influence that keeps him from being punished for his actions. This is further emphasized as Cherie drives past Ethan, catching a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror. Suddenly, the vehicle is violently totaled, flipping over as shards of busted glass spray across the interior.
In the glow of artificial light, Ethan snidely asks: “How are you surviving now, huh?”
He’s Like a Monster
We’re given a brief glimpse of what appears to be a martial arts studio, as the scarred woman from before states that “no one beats him.” The tone of the trailer becomes a smidgen more empowering – we see brief glimpses of a group of survivors armed with improvised weapons, blood being poured from one vial into another, and a quick shot of Cherie in the morning light, implying she survives the night. Cherie then lashes out at the camera with a brick, rushing away as it drops to the floor. This, combined with the previous camera interaction Ethan had, could be a sign that he’s filming his “games” for some nefarious reason.
After Ethan affirms that he’s not going anywhere, we see that he’s even willing to kill others not directly related to his game. A bystander that was briefly seen with Cherie earlier in the trailer is struck down, with Ethan licking his blood-caked chops the way an animal would. Cue the title card.
Eager fans have speculated that, in combination with the vial scene and how Ethan doesn’t make an appearance during the day, he could be some kind of vampire. However, this wouldn’t necessarily match with how Feste wrote the film, as she based it on her own personal experiences per Entertainment Weekly.
Run Sweetheart Run is shaping up to be an excellent horror-thriller to enjoy this Halloween, joining other films like 2020’s The Invisible Man in highlighting a very real but often unrepresented danger that can affect just about anyone.
