Runner

Runner follows Haas, an eighteen-year-old girl raised by a single father in Missouri. When her father suddenly dies she is left to bury him alone. In order to meet the terms of his will, she must bring him to the town where he was born along the Mississippi River, a community battling both the stresses of climate and economy. Due to an upcoming storm her father’s burial is postponed and with nowhere else to go she stays at an inn belonging to a lonely cinephile named Baggy. Though a hermit himself, Baggy encourages others to go out and see the world: a view very much restricted from this town. And it is during her extended, unexpected time here when she meets Will. Will is in the region working to support his mother whose eyesight is failing her. Will has an artistic soul, but one tethered to the harsh reality of his circumstances. Will teaches Haas to live and Haas teaches Will to feel. It is in their friendship, their shared expression of living, where Haas’ understanding of love and loss begins to take shape.