Is Run Hide Fight too intense?

Zoe Hull’s first hunting trip with her dad ends when the high-school senior smashes the skull of the wounded deer she had just shot, putting it out of its misery. Zoe is no wilting violet, and Run Hide Fight lets viewers know early on the movie will be violent and at times disturbing.

The Daily Wire, the conservative news platform best known for hosting the podcasts of conservative favorites Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Andrew Klavan, is distributing and promoting the film, its first such endeavor. Daily Wire subscribers can watch it online.

Zoe and her friend Lewis soon forget the small-time drama of prom proposals and senior pranks when four disturbed students crash a bomb-filled van into the cafeteria and start firing weapons. Bullets and bodies fly.

Zoe can run and hide but ultimately chooses to fight, risking her safety to save others. Director Kyle Rankin doesn’t glorify the shooters or make excuses for their actions. The film praises courage, self-sacrifice, and honor.

But the film’s violence is more than what would be needed to move the plot along. Blasphemy and crude language occur throughout, along with one scene of female nudity. The Daily Wire principals may say these elements are necessary in truth-telling art. Viewers may say otherwise.

—This story appears in the Feb. 13, 2021, issue under the headline “When is intense too intense?”