See How They Run: Meta-Treatment of Agatha Christie's Oeuvre is Fact-Based Fun

By Karen Gordon

Rating: A-

Who dunnit? Who cares? Especially when finding out who the murderer is means we’re at, or close to the end of, one of the most enjoyable and wonderfully meta movies of the year to date. 

Set in London in 1953, See How They Run stars Sam Rockwell as Inspector Stoppard, assigned to solve a case of murder in a West End theatre.  And, since all the other detectives are taken up by crimes considered more serious than something in the theatre district, he’s assigned a young inexperienced aide, Constable Stalker, played by Saoirse Ronan. 

Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan on the trail of a murderer.

The murder wasn’t after just any old play, in any old theatre.  It happened after the 100th performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, at the Ambassadors Theatre. There, cast and crew are celebrating with a reception, including a giant cake sent by Agatha Christie herself (Shirley Henderson), and a lavish seafood buffet which gets colourfully destroyed when a fight breaks out between two of the men in front of everyone.

One of them ends up murdered shortly after.  So who dunnit?
The victim is Leo Köpernick, (Adrien Brody)  an obnoxious, womanizing, alcoholic Hollywood director, who has managed to alienate and annoy everyone.

In fact, Köpernick begins the film by giving us his flippant opinion about the play, and sets us up for the circumstances that lead to his murder.  By the time he gets done in, we’ve seen enough to understand how he’s irritated everyone, including us. But even still: what would lead to his murder remains a puzzle.

There’s intrigue and tensions all over the place.  Köpernick was hired by producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith).  He’s deeply at odds with screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris, (David Oyelowo), from whom he’s ordered a modernizing rewrite of the screenplay, including a murder in the first 10 minutes of the film.

Woolf, is trying to keep the peace in his creative team, but Köpernick has ‘the goods” on Woolf’s big secret, and threatens blackmail.

And then there’s the theatre owner, Petula Spencer, (Ruth Wilson), who owns the rights to the play with Agatha Christie. The plays cast includes real life husband and wife, the pompous actor Dicky Attenborough, (Harris Dickinson) and co-star Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda). Of course, Köpernick has already hit on her, promising her the role in the movie if she, well, you know.

This is the feature film debut of veteran television director Tom George, and his experience directing comedy shows in the perfect comedy timing here. There are small bits that turn into running jokes through the movie.  

Then again George was given a lot to work with by screenwriter Mark Chappell, whose tight script uses every genre cliche in the service of clever fun.  And this top-notch cast is a joy to watch.  

See How They Run is fiction. But there’s a lot of fact mixed in. fact: The Mousetrap did indeed originate at Ambassadors theatre. Richard “Dicky” Attenborough and his then wife co-starred in it.  The esteemed producer John Woolf , already an Oscar winner, did indeed have the film rights to The Mousetrap at this point in history. Inspector Stoppard’s name, is, of course a nod to playwright Tom Stoppard (whose one-act play The Real Inspector Hound was a parody of Agatha Christie). And there are more little tidbits worked into the plot.

Shot during the pandemic, the film is also a bit of an homage to those beautiful old theatres. 

Do you need to know this to enjoy See How They Run? Absolutely not.  

It’s a delight either way. 

See How They Run? Directed by Tom George. Written by Mark Chappell. Starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and Adrien Brody. Opens in theatres Friday, September 16.