The Boy Who Ran – Movie Review

 This Christian short had its premiere on YouTube in late August. I wasn’t sure what to expect as the trailer did not give much away. I was pleasantly surprised with the story and enjoyed the performance of the actors. It was a gritty depiction and journey from the sole perspective of two male characters. This was a big bonus since it’s not often we have emotional male centric stories.

I believe this point of view is largely absent, especially from the African stance. What we have come to be familiar with is anger and violence popularly shown. The more nuanced emotions like dissatisfaction, anxiety, grief and loss are not often tackled and thus paints the picture that a man from that culture or with that cultural background is deemed ‘strong’ by not showing these types of emotions. As a human being we know that we all have them and males may not readily show this since the African culture and norms does not encourage it. This narrative is often missing and where present is usually severely distorted and does not convey the real picture of what often happens.

I enjoyed how the story was not wrapped up and made tidy or pretty because life is often like that…raw, with many unanswered questions. The Boy Who Ran shows that we can find beauty and peace no matter how skewed our lives might seem to us. It’s left to us as people of faith to turn and hold fast to Jesus in the ups and downs of life.

I look forward to more from the HSIDEAS stable. Support this movie and go and watch it by clicking on this video. The thirty-two minutes will be well spent, I promise. Share your thoughts on what you got below.