Sarah Paulson's Pulse-Pounding Horror Thriller Is Making Waves On Hulu's Top Charts

As of late, Hulu has been leaning towards grittier stories, with the streaming service consistently spotlighting titles from the sci-fi and horror genres on its top charts. These algorithm-driven rankings have, as usual, been hit or miss: Last month, the trope-heavy yet enjoyable "The Pope's Exorcist" got a lot of love on Hulu, while the third week of May saw the sudden resurgence of an objectively terrible sci-fi flop.

Thankfully, the streaming service's latest Top 10 movies list (in the U.S.) features an intriguing, competently made horror thriller that is currently sitting at #5 (via FlixPatrol). Aneesh Chaganty's "Run," which features Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen in complex, challenging roles, sets itself apart from comparable genre fare with its frenetic approach to creating terror. Considering how well this 2020 film is doing on Hulu this week, it is safe to say that "Run" will keep you on your toes.

Chaganty's debut film, "Searching," is a smart, seamless thriller that tackles a missing person's case from a deeply personal angle, wherein a distressed father (John Cho) scours every corner of cyberspace to find his daughter. Although "Run" doesn't possess the taut innovation that "Searching" embraces from the get-go, the 2020 film paints an uncomfortable picture of motherhood that will stay with you after the credits roll. If you happen to watch both films back to back, chances are that you'll appreciate Chaganty's ability to create tense intrigue in any narrative setting, especially when every visual clue indicates that something is amiss.

Let's take a deeper dive into this claustrophobia-inducing horror thriller, which underlines how frightening parental abuse can get (and how trauma finds a way to stick around).

"Run" shares a thematic DNA with other "mother-from-hell" narratives, such as "Mama" (where terrible parenting meets a vengeful demonic entity not from this world) and "Umma" (where the ghostly presence of an abusive parent wreaks havoc upon an estranged daughter). Chaganty's film opens with single mother Diane (Paulson) giving birth to a premature baby who grows up with medical disabilities, severely limiting her ability to safely interact with the outside world. As she comes of age, Diane's daughter, Chloe (Allen), yearns to go to college despite these personal challenges, but none of the institutions she applies to respond to her. While Diane seems perfectly supportive of her daughter, a bottle of prescription pills that Chloe finds one day triggers a chain of unsettling realizations. Suddenly, Chloe doesn't feel safe in her own home, and everything she has learned about her mother over the years is put to a cruel test.

At first, Diane's carefully controlled daily routine for Chloe feels like a concerned mother's dedicated efforts to keep her daughter safe and healthy. Diane grows vegetables at home and feeds Chloe healthy meals, and she has been homeschooling her while administering timely medication and physical therapy. However, as time passes, this mother-daughter duo's codependency spirals into something truly terrible, forcing Chloe to navigate this hellish scenario all on her own. As Chloe is forced to drag herself and crawl from one space to another to get to the bottom of the matter, Chaganty frames these sequences with harrowing urgency.

While "Run" is pretty predictable once you realize what kind of thriller it's going to be, it still manages to stun with its chilling exploration of dysfunctional familial dynamics. Both Paulson and Allen are breathtaking to watch, and the two violently go head-to-head until a sense of catharsis is achieved. But the true brilliance of "Run" lies in the details, so be sure to pay close attention to each and every micro-expression on the characters' faces as you watch.