Line #22 Film/SeeHowTheyRun


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/see_how_they_run_2022_film_1.jpeg]]
2
3	->''"Let's not jump to conclusions, Constable."''
4	-->-- '''Inspector Stoppard'''
5
6	''See How They Run'' is a comedic murder mystery released in 2022.
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8	Set in 1953 London, the film chronicles a (heavily fictionalized) version of the 100th performance of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Theatre/TheMousetrap''. American director Leo Köpernick (Creator/AdrienBrody) plans to direct [[TheFilmOfThePlay a film version of the play]] but he is murdered before he can do so. What's more, seemingly everyone involved in the productions -- including pompous screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (Creator/DavidOyelowo), manipulative theater producer Petula Spencer (Creator/RuthWilson), affable film producer John Woolf (Creator/ReeceShearsmith) and leading couple Creator/RichardAttenborough (Creator/HarrisDickinson) and Sheila Sim (Creator/PearlChanda) -- had it out for Leo. It is now up to Inspector Stoppard (Creator/SamRockwell) and his partner Constable Stalker (Creator/SaoirseRonan) to catch the killer before anyone else turns up dead.
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10	In case you were wondering, the film does ''not'' give away the famous twist ending of ''The Mousetrap''.
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12	----
13	!!''See How They Run'' contains examples of:
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15	* AdaptedOut: The character of Miss Casewell in ''The Mousetrap'' is not included in any scenes depicting the play or its cast.
16	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
17	** The film makes use of the fact that ''The Mousetrap'' was inspired by a real life case but takes several liberties with the truth in order to tell the story. [[spoiler:The O'Neill family's name is changed to Corrigan to match the characters in the play and there is no evidence that the surviving brother ever plotted revenge on Agatha Christie or anyone involved with the play.]]
18	** At the end, Stoppard is awarded the King's Police and Fire Services Medal; however, the award was no longer given to living recipients after 1950, and in 1952 would have been the Queen's Police and Fire Services Medal to reflect the recent ascension of the late Queen; given that Köpernick is narrating, however, it could easily be a mistake on his part.
19	* TheAlcoholic: Inspector Stoppard regularly shows up late and drunk.
20	* AssholeVictim: Leo Köpernick is a sleazy womanizer who sexually harasses Sheila Sim (one of the stars of ''The Mousetrap''), so no one feels sorry for him when he is murdered. When he appears in a dream Stoppard has, he isn't surprised to learn that nobody misses him.
21	* BewareTheSillyOnes: [[spoiler:Creator/AgathaChristie]] is depicted as a bit of an odd recluse who requires her husband to act as a CloudcuckoolandersMinder. She [[spoiler:tries to put an end to the killer with a poisoned cup of tea (accidentally killing her butler) and would have beheaded him with a shovel if Max didn't stop her]].
22	* BludgeonedToDeath: The killer initially tries to strangle Leo to death with a wire. When Leo manages to break free and try to escape, the killer makes do by smashing his head in with a sewing machine.
23	* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:The film ends with Stoppard addressing the audience as "co-conspirators" and requesting they not spoil the ending. This echoes the warning given to audience members of ''The Mousetrap'' at the conclusion of each performance, which appears at the start of the film.]]
24	* BritishStuffiness: Lampshaded by the American Leo, who comments in his narration that Londoners are somehow even more uptight than they were [[UsefulNotes/TheAirWar when the Luftwaffe was hanging over their heads]].
25	* TheButlerDidIt: [[spoiler:The usher at the theater did it, not any of the high-profile suspects. Lampshaded by Stalker, who realizes Dennis was BeneathSuspicion due to his position.]]
26	* CastingGag: The [[Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel last time]] Creator/SaoirseRonan and Creator/AdrienBrody were in a movie together, Brody's character was a {{jerkass}} ''orchestrating'' murders, not the victim.
27	* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:The coat-check]] and [[spoiler:the young O'Neill brothers]], who are [[spoiler:one and the same, and the murderer.]]
28	* CluelessDeputy: Stalker, to begin with at least. [[spoiler:By the end she's aced her sergeant's exam.]]
29	* CoolOldLady: What is Christie's first reaction when she realizes her husband and her play's cast is being held hostage? Go into her [[CrazyPrepared poison cabinet]] and grab some arsenic to put in the killer's tea. And in [[spoiler:the climactic shootout scene, she finishes the killer off with a TapToTheHead]].
30	* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The killer puts Leo's body on a couch onstage.
31	* DeadStarWalking: Despite being played by Adrien Brody, Leo Köpernick is murdered very early on (though he is featured in several flashbacks).
32	* DefectiveDetective: Stoppard would be an upstanding officer, if he wasn't slipping out to the pub, or turning up late and hungover.
33	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:No one suspected Dennis, a seemingly harmless usher, of being the killer.]]
34	* EmbarrassingSlide: While showing off his storyboards to Mervyn, Köpernick accidentally shows off a drawing of a woman in a dress sitting on a bed.
35	* EnemyEatsYourLunch: Leo catches Woolf with his mistress at the nightclub, and then makes a blackmail threat. He then eats the olive in Woolf's cocktail.
36	* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe, Köpernick comes up with [[ActionizedAdaptation an action-packed shootout ending]] for ''The Mousetrap'', believing it needs more drama. Similarly, Mervyn, the screenwriter, [[AdaptationExpansion only wants to use the script as a springboard for a larger story of his own devising]].
37	* {{Fangirl}}: Stalker squees over actor Dickie Attenborough, which doesn't help when they have to ask him some questions.
38	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Köpernick creates some storyboard art of how he envisions the climax of his version of ''The Mousetrap''. [[spoiler:The climax of this film plays out in the exact same way. Two characters lampshade it, expressing gratitude that Mervyn, the screenwriter who disapproved of Köpernick's ending, was not there to see it happen.]]
39	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The film features several real life figures, such as actors Creator/RichardAttenborough and Sheila Sim, film producer John Woolf and eventually Agatha Christie herself.
40	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Dickie Attenborough takes note of Stoppard's war wound and breezily asks if he can incorporate it into his performance, saying that a physical defect will give his character new depth.
41	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Petula blows past the clause in the contract about how a movie can't be made until after the theatrical production of ''The Mousetrap'' closes, saying that the play is a whodunit and that once people know whodunit, "Audiences are bound to drop off." ''The Mousetrap'' famously never did close, except for when all theatrical productions were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
42	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: A lot of this, as the film affectionately parodies murder mystery conventions and Agatha Christie tropes while also following them.
43	** In the opening, Leo in his narration grouses about how whodunits have to have an "interminable prologue" where all the characters are introduced, before the most unsympathetic one is murdered, while of course that is exactly what is happening onscreen as all the characters are being introduced before Leo himself is killed.
44	** Mervyn sarcastically notes how flashbacks in murder mysteries are a cliche, before the film immediately cuts to a flashback. He then snarks "What's next, a caption that says 'Three Weeks Later'?", before just such a caption cuts to the next part of the flashback.
45	* MeaningfulName: Stalker assiduously takes in every detail of the Leo Köpernick case and refuses to let anything get past her. Stoppard, meanwhile, is doing the actual work to stop the killer from continuing with the murder spree.
46	* MistakenForMurderer: [[spoiler:Stoppard is assumed to be the killer by Stalker. Much to general embarrassment when he's confronted with his "ex" wife - who he's never seen before.]]
47	* MotorMouth: Stalker admits she probably talks too much, though this is probably down to nerves.
48	* MurderByMistake: [[spoiler:Agatha Christie accidentally poisons her butler when he drinks the tea she made for Dennis.]]
49	* NaiveNewcomer: Stalker is very unfamiliar with day-to-day policing and takes witnesses' statements at their literal word, to Stoppard's frustration.
50	-->'''Shiela Sim:''' It was me, Inspector. You need look no further.\
51	'''Stalker:''' I arrest you for the murder of Leo Köpernick!\
52	'''Stoppard:''' No, no, no! No...Not yet...
53	* OldCopYoungCop: Stoppard (grizzled veteran inspector) and Stalker (naive young constable) are paired to investigate the murder, much to the former's irritation and the latter's nervousness.
54	* PosthumousNarration: Leo Köpernick narrates the film, even after he is killed off.
55	* PresentDayPast: Even though the Rillington Place murders fit the description, the term 'serial killer' was not in widespread use until the 1980s at least.
56	* RaceLift: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mallowan Max Mallowan]], Agatha Christie's second husband, is depicted as Black in the film.
57	* RealFakeDoor: Köpernick, fleeing from a killer backstage at the theatre, [[HopeSpot sees an exit sign above a door]]...only for it to be a prop door in front of a brick wall.
58	%%* SexyBacklessOutfit: By 1950s standards Sheila Sim is dressed rather racily.
59	* ShoutOut:
60	** Inspector Stoppard is named after Creator/TomStoppard who wrote ''Theatre/TheRealInspectorHound'', a parody of ''The Mousetrap''. Describing Leo's behavior to Stoppard, Dickie and Sheila say "He was a real hound, inspector."
61	** Inspector Stoppard tells Constable Stalker "the play's the thing" before they watch ''The Mousetrap''. He is quoting ''Hamlet'' and referring to the play within a play that will "catch the conscience of a king". Hamlet describes that play as "The Mousetrap".
62	** Stalker asks where in France the concierge at the Savoy is from, only to be informed he is Belgian - a common mistake made by those meeting Franchise/HerculePoirot.
63	** Mervyn Cocker-Norris, the screenwriter adapting ''The Mousetrap'', lives in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florin_Court Florin Court]], a building known to fans of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' as Whitehaven Mansions, Poirot's residence.
64	** Fellowes, Christie and Mallowan's butler, is named after Creator/JulianFellowes, the screenwriter of the Christie-esque ''Film/GosfordPark''. His appearance is also heavily inspired by Hercule Poirot.
65	** Priestley, an unseen colleague of Stoppard, is presumably named for J.B. Priestley, the writer of the ''other'' most famous British MurderMystery play, ''Theatre/AnInspectorCalls''.
66	** The reason why Stoppard and Stalker are basically the only police assigned to the murder of Köpernick is the rest of the squad is apparently busy investigating the murders at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Christie_(serial_killer) 10 Rillington Place]].[[note]]Creator/RichardAttenborough would play Christie in the movie version of ''Film/TenRillingtonPlace''.[[/note]]
67	** A sign saying [[Literature/DeathInTheClouds Norman Gale: Dentist]] can be seen while Constable Stalker is looking for Inspector Stoppard after she spots Woolf.
68	* ShovelStrike: How Stalker stops [[spoiler:Stoppard]], following a lengthy chase through the theater. With a ''snow'' shovel, no less! [[spoiler:She turns out to be wrong about him being the culprit, however.]]
69	* SignificantNameOverlap: Not only do [[spoiler:Leo and Stoppard both have exes named Joyce, both Joyces are also "plain" brunettes with prominent glasses. Having only a name and a photograph to go off of, Stalker assumes the Joyces are the same woman and Stoppard murdered Leo in a crime of passion. She is abashed when they turn out to be different people.]]
70	* SummationGathering: {{Discussed\|Trope}}, as characters talk about how the summation gathering (a trope invented by Agatha Christie, as it happens) is a cliché. Then of course in the film the characters are invited to just such a gathering, although the trope is subverted when the murderer reveals themselves rather than being revealed by the detective.
71	* SuspectExistenceFailure: Stalker thinks [[spoiler:Mervyn Cocker-Norris]] is the prime suspect in Leo's murder, only for the latter to turn up dead.
72	* SuspectIsHatless: Dennis the usher gives Stoppard a frustratingly vague description of a man he saw lurking backstage at the time of the murder--he was wearing pants, and he had a hat. [[spoiler:It turns out Dennis is the murderer and was intentionally being unhelpful.]]
73	* TakingTheBullet: Invoked -- as part of his ActionizedAdaptation of ''The Mousetrap'', Köpernick pitches a revised climax where the detective manages to shoot the killer twice, only for his gun to [[ConvenientMisfire jam at the wrong moment]]. The downed killer shoots at the detective, only for the latter's partner to dramatically leap in and get shot while pushing him away. Mervyn thinks it's dumb. [[spoiler:Naturally, a very similar situation happens when Stoppard faces down Dennis. Stalker leaps to save Stoppard and thinks she doesn't feel anything because she got shot in the attempt...only to realize that Stoppard got nicked instead.]]
74	* ThisIsGoingToBeHuge: The plot revolves around a potential film adaptation of ''The Mousetrap'', with those involved in the production looking forward to a financial windfall.
75	* TruthInTelevision:
76	** The film mentions a clause in Christie's contract that no film version of ''The Mousetrap'' can be made until six months after it concludes its theatrical run. This is true, which is why no adaptation has been made in the 70 years the play has been running. Indeed, this film may be as close we ever get.
77	** Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim really were in the original production of ''The Mousetrap'', with Attenborough starring as Trotter.
78	* TwoferTokenMinority: Stalker is both female and Irish. There is a trace of PoliticallyCorrectHistory here too: an Irish female cop would not have been impossible in 1953 London but it would still probably have been rare enough to draw comment from other characters meeting her.
79	* WrongGenreSavvy: Leo Köpernick's opening narration assumes that he is in a story about the drama of adapting a boring British "whodunit" into an exciting Hollywood movie. He does not realize until it is too late that he is actually in a British "whodunit" story and his actions have put him firmly into the role of the murder victim.
80	* YoungFutureFamousPeople: To some extent with Richard Attenborough, most familiar to later generations as the kindly old John Hammond in ''Film/JurassicPark'', here is a dashing young actor.

Context Film / SeeHowTheyRun