Though probably unintentional, anyone relatively familiar with The Beatles’ back catalog can’t help but sing the title of Tom George’s new movie, See How They Run, in the voice of Paul McCartney, with the phrase a repeated lyric in the band’s 1968 hit, Lady Madonna. Set a decade before the world was gripped by Beatlemania, See How They Run tells a punchy, comical tale of a murder mystery in one of London’s West End theaters.

As Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap catches the gaze of a Hollywood castaway, the theatrical production is set to be made into a screen adaptation. Yet, that plan is stopped well in its tracks when a gruesome murder occurs backstage. See How They Run manages to modernize the idea of a murder mystery in a way that is neither too drastic nor a complete overhaul of the genre conventions.

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The Detective Duo

     Searchlight Pictures

Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan team up to play Inspector Stoppard and Constable Stalker, respectively. As with every murder mystery, the protagonists tend to have the silhouette of a deerstalker hat, magnifying glass, and pipe… or at least in the case of Sherlock Holmes. Essentially, a murder mystery’s titular role is nearly always occupied by a detective, and See How They Run is no different. Stoppard and Stalker’s relationship as the contrasting investigative pairing is the primary source of the movie’s comedic elements.

Rockwell assumes the role of the disgruntled, alcoholic veteran whose stark lack of enthusiasm and aloof presence make him arguably the least compatible companion for a rookie. Cue Ronan’s Constable Stalker, who is placed under his inattentive supervision. With her unfortunate name and predisposition to awkward forthrightness, Stalker is the film’s most charming, interesting, and funny character.

Stoppard and Stalker play out this on-screen odd couple, as Stalker’s inexperienced eagerness to get to the bottom of the murder with her incessant, vexatious questioning, and constant desire for critique has Stoppard on the verge of eye-rolling and biting his tongue so much, there’ll soon be no tongue left to bite. Stalker’s facetious, mistimed wit, and endearingly dry sense of humor are sequinned throughout the film, and exquisitely complement Stoppard’s unhelpful disinterest. Ronan’s performance undeniably steals the show; she possesses this real likability and magnetism that makes Stalker an irresistible screen presence.

Wheels Within Wheels

Wheels within wheels, or in See How They Run’s case, a whodunit encased in a whodunit. The film knowingly points fun at the commonly formulaic, exhausted conventions of the genre, with Adrien Brody’s Leo Kopernick addressing the tired and predictable nature of the typical murder mystery and the overused jump cuts and narration, before hilariously proceeding to employ the exact features the film has chastised (“three months later”).

The acknowledgment of the fact that murder mysteries have become a little clichéd with their Cluedo-inspired patterns and same format is not just parodic in See How They Run, but also a gracious nod to the conventions that have brought murder mystery movies so much success over the years. The film is an effective contradiction, an unconventional whodunit that is genetically made up of all the DNA of its forefathers.

Addition of Fact in a Fictional World

What screenwriter Mark Chappell does so brilliantly is incorporate small portions of fact and tosses them into this mainly fictitious world. He craftily interweaves elements of Agatha Christie’s actual play, and her contractual agreement that it can only be made into a film six months after its theatrical conclusion. Dotted in there are some real-life movie stars as well, like Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson), and Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda), who were both actually present in the stage performances in 1952. The visual aesthetic of the film, as well, feels gloriously similar to bigger-budgeted mysteries and whodunits of the era, mostly thanks to the excellent cinematography from Jamie Ramsay and the excellent costume and set design.

The Murder Mystery Red Herring

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

There’s always a red herring to throw the audience off the scent, yet in See How They Run there is a long, very literal list of red herrings assembled meticulously on Constable Stalker’s trustee notepad. As an impressionable, relatively naive newbie, she scribes every last, inconsequential detail down. Underlined in bold is the phrase “Don’t Jump to Conclusions,” as with every new, potentially incriminating piece of evidence, Stalker invariably does exactly that, despite Stoppard’s muffled protestations.

The audience is firmly placed in Stalker’s shoes, continuously drawn in by new suspects that lead to a half-hearted, inevitably fruitless dead-end. As is so often in a murder mystery’s composition, there is always a sense that a greater conspiracy is afoot, and there is frequently an overwhelming feeling as to who the murderer may be. However, in See How They Run we are given a tiny glimpse of the perpetrator who is portrayed in an innocent light, and who isn’t even really a suspect at all.

See How They Run is like if Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, and Rian Johnson somehow defied the laws of biology, had a baby, and named it Sherlock. It’s a quirky, lively, and theatrical display that draws upon traditional tropes of the genre, but somehow, perhaps falsely, manages to disassemble the old toy’s parts and rearrange them in a rejigged format that works just as well.