When RUN AWAY arrives on screen, adapted from Harlan Coben’s 2019 novel by his frequent collaborator Danny Brocklehurst alongside Tom Farrelly and Amanda Duke, it signals something of a shift in the streaming thriller landscape that Coben has come to dominate with algorithmic precision. This is one of his less bombastic efforts, trading in the usual baroque plot gymnastics for something more harrowing, more grounded in the kind of parental nightmare that doesn’t require secret societies or buried corpses to feel genuinely unsettling.
At its center is James Nesbitt as Simon, a father whose daughter Paige has vanished into the undertow of drug addiction, and while the role doesn’t break new ground for an actor who has made a career of playing tormented everymen, it serves as a sharp reminder that few inhabit that particular emotional territory with quite his weathered authenticity. What elevates the proceedings beyond standard missing-person melodrama is the supporting cast, particularly Tracy-Ann Oberman as Jessica, Simon’s lawyer, who brings a magnificently terrifying energy to every scene, and Ruth Jones as private investigator Elena Ravenscroft, all iron fist wrapped in velvet glove, radiating a faint but beautifully calibrated unease that lingers long after she exits the frame.
The machinery of plot unfolds across eight episodes in increasingly convoluted but surprisingly well-oiled grooves, each twist engineered to open fresh avenues of intrigue and ensure you’ll return for the next installment, which is precisely how these things are built to function in the streaming era even if we pretend we’ve been unshackled from the tyranny of appointment television. Simon, against the wishes of his wife Ingrid, played by a woefully underused Minnie Driver who spends much of the series comatose in an ICU bed while dialogue so hackneyed it would disgrace CASUALTY plays out above her inert form, continues his secret search for Paige despite the official wisdom that addicts must hit rock bottom before they can be saved.
The first episode closes with the kind of calculated revelation that defines Coben’s approach: Paige’s brother at university with her busking guitar stashed in his room, Elena discovering that Henry’s last Instagram post before his alleged two-week holiday came from Paige herself, all those familiar notes of dum-dum-dah that once would have kept us waiting seven days and now simply keep us clicking through to the next hour. We mock the formula even as we submit to it, because Coben has perfected the art of the ratings banker, the dependable machine that converts recognizable faces and competent craft into engagement metrics, and RUN AWAY, for all its modest ambitions and occasionally creaky dialogue, delivers exactly what it promises: a sleek, functional thriller that understands the difference between innovation and reliability, and has long since chosen the latter.
✨ EXCLUSIVE: Eve Hewson is heading back to Dublin.
Joining forces with acclaimed director Lenny Abrahamson, the Irish actress is set to star in a stunning new period drama that transports us to 1970s Dublin—a city pulsing with cultural complexity and untold stories.
The film will explore the vibrant Jewish community of the era, with Hewson joined by acclaimed English actor Tom Burke and breakthrough talent Shane Meagher. A reunion of Abrahamson`s trusted collaborators (hello, NORMAL PEOPLE magic ✨), this ensemble promises something truly special.
More Eve at irishfilmtv.com.
MOBLAND Season Two is underway!
Irish actors @piersmorgan and @scandalous_13 are back and this season promises to be something else entirely!
Season One made history as one of Paramount+`s biggest ever debuts, and if the word coming out of production is anything to go by, they`re not here to play it safe.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Liam Neeson returns to theatres in COLD STORAGE - the kind of film that makes you laugh, makes your skin crawl, and then makes you laugh again!
A 1979 NASA cover-up. An alien fungus sealed in a government vault. And two underpaid warehouse workers who just became humanity`s last hope.
Sharp. Funny. Genuinely unsettling. More Liam at irishfilmtv.com.
Brendan Gleeson returns to THE WEIR as cameras roll in Ireland, bringing Conor McPherson`s haunting stage masterpiece to the screen.
Fresh off a five-star West End run that WhatsOnStage called "staggeringly good," the entire acclaimed cast is back to capture the magic of this modern Irish classic.
More Brendan at irishfilmtv.com.
When Emerald Fennell texted @alisonjoliver about joining WUTHERING HEIGHTS, the answer was immediate: yes.
"I just love her so much that I would do anything she was doing," Oliver says about reuniting with Fennell after SALTBURN.
The film is now in theatres, more at irishfilmtv.com.
Barry Keoghan has arrived.
The Dublin actor who made us unable to look away in SALTBURN is now going head-to-head with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Halle Berry in CRIME 101 — and he`s not just keeping up, he`s stealing scenes.
This isn`t just another role—this is Keoghan proving he belongs among Hollywood`s heaviest hitters, taking his Love/Hate juice straight to LA and reminding everyone that sometimes the hungriest actor in the room is the most dangerous one.
More Barry at irishfilmtv.com.
One man. Eight characters. Pure theatrical magic. ✨
Andrew Scott`s VANYA won Best Play Revival at the WhatsOnStage Awards after its triumphant West End run at the Duke of York`s Theatre and now tops the list of best one-man shows of recent times.
More Andrew at irishfilmtv.com.
HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST drops Feb 12 on Netflix.
DERRY GIRLS star Saoirse Monica Jackson has been talking about the new series and her excitement is absolutely contagious.
Landing on Galentine`s Day feels perfect for this kind of ladies-celebrating-ladies energy.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
Jamie Dornan is about to make you forget every role you thought defined him.
THE WORST, a pitch-black British comedy, casts him as Danny, a talent agent so pathologically addicted to self-promotion that he can`t stop name-dropping even as the dinner party around him combusts into spectacular social carnage.
More Jamie at irishfilmtv.com.
