The Runner: A High-Concept Thriller That Falls Flat
The Runner, an Amazon Prime Video thriller starring Gal Gadot, has drawn sharply critical reviews from two major outlets, with both finding the high-concept premise—a woman forced to jog across London while following a kidnapper's orders—more tedious than tense.
Gadot plays Maia, a London-based attorney and single mother who is prosecuting a powerful crime boss for the killings of two women. After seeing her diabetic son Noah (Rory Wilmot) off to school, she heads out on a morning jog, only to receive a call from a kidnapper (Damian Lewis) who has taken her son. The caller demands that she keep moving on foot across town, avoid talking to anyone else, and ultimately shoot a star witness in one of her cases who would otherwise testify against his criminal employer.
The film, directed by Kevin Macdonald and written by Mark Gibson, runs a brisk 84 minutes including credits. It is set for release on September 2, 2026, on Amazon.
Critical Reception: Two Outlets, Two Negative Reviews
V. Club's review is openly mocking, describing the film as one where Gadot "jogs around London for an hour bumping into shit" and calling it "a punishment." The review notes that Gadot is essentially the only actor on screen for the duration of the film, stuck on a wireless headset with the kidnapper. It praises the film's unintentional humor, calling it "a delightfully idiotic riff on Phone Booth and its ilk, perfectly obnoxious and exquisitely silly for the right kind of hate-watcher." The review also criticizes the film's "abrasive needledrops" and "over-saturated drone shots," which it says make the movie look like "a bright, gleeful ad for psoriasis medication."
Screen Rant's review is more measured but equally critical, calling the film a "poor imitation" of a Danny Boyle movie and "weightless diversion." The review attributes the film's failure to a combination of a weak script, Gadot's unengaging dialogue delivery, and Macdonald's imitative directorial style. It compares The Runner unfavorably to 2024's Carry-On and 2025's Drop, both of which are also high-concept thrillers.
Plot and Performances: A One-Woman Show
Both reviews agree that the film's premise is built around Gadot's performance. Screen Rant notes that Maia must follow the kidnapper's instructions to shoot her star witness to save her son, a twist that adds a moral dimension to the physical challenge. The kidnapper has injected Noah with too much insulin, with a fatal dose being administered via IV drip, raising the stakes for Maia.
V. Club's review highlights a scene where Maia has her phone stolen on a subway as one of the film's better set pieces, though the overall tone remains one of bemused disappointment. The review also points out that the script is "plotted well enough, but is neither rich nor witty enough for the characters to sustain our interest when things slow down."
The Verdict: A Missed Opportunity
Both reviews ultimately conclude that The Runner fails to live up to its promising set-up. V. Club calls it a "sweaty hour of silliness" that is "unintentionally amusing," while Screen Rant dismisses it as a "weightless diversion" that "disappoints where it counts." The film's short runtime and Gadot's action capabilities are noted as positives, but both agree that the execution falls short of the concept's potential.