Skip to Content

Run Ending Explained | Sarah Paulson’s Hulu Thriller Explained

There is a new suspenseful thriller out on Hulu starring Sarah Paulson called Run, and here is the ending explained breakdown.

run poster

Hulu has a new thriller called Run and let me tell you, this movie is filled with suspense. Even though it is a bit predictable, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen next. And that ending, well, it did not disappoint. 

There is a major twist at the end that delivers some serious poetic justice. But if you were left even just a little bit confused, have no fear, in this article I detail the ending of Run, explained. 

Warning: Massive Spoilers For Run In This Ending Explained

run

RUN — Chloe (Kiera Allen), Diane (Sarah Paulson), shown. (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Hulu)

The very first scene is a newborn baby struggling to survive, and Sarah Paulson, who plays Diane, is the mother. She asks if the baby will be OK which leads into a description of several health conditions. We then see Diane and her daughter Chloe, who it seems has all of these and is wheelchair ridden.

Throughout the movie we get the idea that something is not right with Chloe’s mother, Diane. She is very clearly hiding something. Whenever the mail comes she rushes to get it, making it obvious that she is stealing the college acceptance letters so her daughter will never leave her. But it turns out it is so much more than that.

Chloe is constantly denied access to the internet, a cellphone, and contact with the outside world. She is 17 so this is already a big red flag. When she discovers a prescription in her mother’s name, which her mother then claims is Chloe’s new medication, she gets suspicious. After calling strangers to google the name for her, and visiting the local pharmacy (by tricking her mother to take her to a movie) she figures out that she has been taking dog muscle relaxants.

run mailman

RUN — Diane (Sarah Paulson) and Mailman (Pat Healy), shown. (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Hulu)

What Happened To The Mailman?

Diane realizes that Chloe is coming to her senses about her so she does what any mother losing control would do (not really) she locks her in her room and disables her wheelchair stair lift in hopes of leaving her stranded upstairs. Over the course of a very intense scene, Chloe leaves her wheelchair to climb out her window, across the roof, and into her mother’s room window. 

She falls down the stairs but manages to get out of the house and runs into the mailman. She tells him that her mother has been hurting her and he plans to take her to the police. Of course Diane shows up just in time to stop this, and him. She drugs him in front of Chloe, but we later see her dragging a body with a trail of blood behind it. We can only assume she killed the nice mailman who was only trying to help.

run chloe

RUN — Chloe (Kiera Allen), shown. (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Hulu)

Who Is Chloe & Was She Ever Sick?

Diane has drugged Chloe and locked her in the basement, where all of her secrets are kept. The first thing she discovers is acceptance letters from colleges, and this makes her furious. Then she notices something else. Even though Chloe’s wheelchair is chained to a table, she is able to drag herself to a box labeled Diane, but with a different last name. Because of course you would keep all the evidence of your crimes in a box in your basement.

As Chloe goes through it she discovers that Diane’s daughter Chloe died at 2 hours and 11 minutes old because her death certificate is in the box. There is also a newspaper clipping about a newborn girl that was snatched from that very same hospital.

So it turns out Chloe is not her daughter, but she is also not really sick. There are photos of her running and walking when she was a child. It seems that Diane was afraid she would be alone, and so she drugged Chloe for years to give her all of these conditions. 

run ending explained

RUN — Chloe (Kiera Allen), shown. (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Hulu)

Diane & Chole’s Basement Interaction

Chloe is, rightfully, freaking out about this. When Diane comes to talk to her and explain her actions, Chloe does not forgive her. Diane starts to mix up paint thinner and other chemicals, and pulls out a hospital machine. Seems like she is going to try to seriously mess Chloe up. She even explains that when Chloe wakes up, she will have forgotten all of this. 

Realizing that Diane needs her, Chloe drinks some chemicals and attempts suicide. But Diane gets her to the hospital in time. Because of what Chloe drank, she cannot talk and tell the nurses what is going on, but one gives her a crayon to write it down. As she is writing a code blue comes across the speakers and the nurse leaves her. It is clear that Diane caused this when she unplugs Chloe and tries to escape the hospital with her.

run sarah paulson

RUN —  Diane (Sarah Paulson), shown. (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Hulu)

What Happened To Diane?

The nurse comes back form the code blue and sees that Chloe is gone. She then sees what Chloe wrote down “MOM” and calls for security. Because Chloe has stopped taking the pills she is starting to be able to move her legs, at least a little bit, and she stops her wheelchair from being pushed right in front of some stairs.

Diane is trying to tell her that everything will be OK and that they need each other when security shows up. Diane pulls a gun but is shot and she falls down the stairs. She does not die though, as we see her in a prison infirmary 7 years later when Chloe goes to visit her.

Chloe is now married with a child, and learning to walk again. We know this because of her wedding ring and she talks about how her daughter is learning to walk as well. We also see her walk through security and mention that she comes once a month to visit her mother. Diane seems very sick and unwell. She looks awful, seems bedridden, and isn’t talking at all.

The poetic justice? Well Chloe not only tells Diane about how her daughter gets to see both sets of grandparents, meaning her real parents, she then removes some pills from a bag in her mouth and tells her to open wide. Now who is drugging who to make them sick? Perfect ending if you ask me.

Unanswered Questions

There are some unanswered questions in this movie, but the one that stands out the most to me is the scars on Sarah Paulson’s character’s back. We see these in the shower but then they never get explained. In this Run ending explained article I am able to tell you about them because I watched the deleted scenes. You can check out the deleted scenes in the “extras” section on Hulu.

There are three scenes, each of which are worth watching. We see Diane trying to explain away rushing to the mail and the prescription being in her name, but in doing so brings up a book that she cut a page out of (likely with a photo of the pill). We also learn that she a victim of child abuse due to a clipping in that box, hence the scaring.

I hope that explained the ending of Run for you — if you have any questions, leave them in the comments!

About Run

They say you can never escape a mother’s love… but for Chloe, that’s not a comfort — it’s a threat. There’s something unnatural, even sinister about the relationship between Chloe (newcomer Kiera Allen) and her mom, Diane (Sarah Paulson). Diane has raised her daughter in total isolation, controlling every move she’s made since birth, and there are secrets that Chloe’s only beginning to grasp. From the visionary writers, producers and director of the breakout film Searching, comes a suspense thriller that shows that when mom gets a little too close, you need to RUN.

The film stars Sarah Paulson and newcomer Kiera Allen.

RUN is directed by Aneesh Chaganty and written by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian. The film is produced by Natalie Qasabian, p.g.a. and Sev Ohanian, p.g.a. The film will make its debut on Hulu later this year.

Watch Run on Hulu now!

https://youtu.be/lf99oBP5mhQ

Run ending explained.

Danielle Nebel

Tuesday 25th of May 2021

How does Diane escape with the baby and they don’t find out

Amber

Wednesday 16th of December 2020

Why does Diane age so much in just 7 years?!