The Runner

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1:48

The Runner

PG-13

2026

1h 24m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

9%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

35%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

In the pulse-pounding psychological thriller The Runner, Maia Marten (Gal Gadot) has built her life on being one step ahead -- a sharp, resourceful, high-powered lawyer at the top of London's legal world. During her routine morning run, a single phone call shatters her world: her son has been taken. The instructions to get him back are simple and merciless -- keep moving, follow every command, and tell no one. Stop, and he dies. Forced to sprint through the city and obey a series of sinister commands, Maia must confront an impossible question: how far will she go to bring her son home? Set against the backdrop of London's hyper-connected streets, The Runner is a visceral, high-stakes race where every second counts, every choice carries a price, and a mother's unstoppable love becomes the most dangerous weapon of all.

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Peter Travers

The Travers Take

1d

1/4

In this dumb-as-dirt kidnap drama, Gal Gadot huffs and puffs, trying to outrun an idiot plot that goes nowhere in 84 minutes.

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Robert Daniels

New York Times

2d

Gal Gadot takes a mighty stumble in the unimaginative thriller “The Runner.”

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Jordan Mintzer

The Hollywood Reporter

3d

Movies such as these are all about suspension of disbelief, and The Runner keeps a fast enough pace that we don’t wind up asking too many questions.

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Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

1d

1/4

When Lola ran we felt exhilaration and purpose through some exciting filmmaking. When Gal runs, its just running with bad acting, laughable puns and a moving clock desperate to sell us on the urgency of watching someone jog.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

1d

1.5/5

To Gadot’s credit she gives it her all, firmly committing herself both physically and emotionally. But you’ll need more than a suspension of disbelief to stick with this preposterous, often tedious, and suspense-free thriller.

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Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

1d

Gadot keeps the adrenaline pumping with every step she takes in this real-time thriller with a pedestrian script that hardly seems worth her blood, sweat, and tears.

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Donni M

@donnimartini 6h

Drags on for a while… ending was satisfying but overall found myself peaking at my phone majority of the movie

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Michael T

@RT38877276 11h

I don't like when movies leave me out of the loop only to sum it all up in the last 10 minutes.

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shani C

@Shancara 11h

The Runner is a decent, popcorn action flick that lives and dies by how much you like watching Gal Gadot run for her life. It’s probably not an Oscar, but it's a nice movie especially if you’re just looking for a mindless, fast-paced thriller to turn your brain off to for 80 minutes on a Friday night, then it gets the job done.

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Jay X

@jayurbain 12h

Entertaining. Must have been physically demanding.

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Felipe A

@Falmeida 13h

The Runner is a rare exercise in narrative economy. In just 84 minutes, Kevin Macdonald turns a high-voltage premise (a lawyer who cannot stop running through London under a kidnapper’s orders) into a real-time thriller that respects the viewer’s intelligence. Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography, handheld and on wide lenses, locks the eye onto Gal Gadot’s body and turns the city into a living maze; every bridge, station and tunnel crossing has legible geography, something most chase films lose. Gadot delivers an impressive physical performance, with breath and fatigue visible on screen, while Damian Lewis, almost entirely through voice, builds tension from the cadence of his commands. The editing holds the pace without frantic cutting, Tom Hodge’s score pulses like a rising heart rate, and the sound design uses urban noise as an instrument. A lean script, precise direction and a star in peak form: streaming rarely delivers action this disciplined and this well executed.

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or K

@RT43692697 15h

The film has some genuinely powerful moments, and the combination of action, emotion, and personal struggle works really well. Overall, this is an inspiring and entertaining movie. Definitely worth watching.

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Kevin Macdonald

Director

Gal Gadot

Maia

Damian Lewis

The Caller

Rory Wilmot

Noah

Alfred Enoch

Ted

Aaron Gill

Mr. Orwell (Serious Young Man)

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Synopsis

In the pulse-pounding psychological thriller The Runner, Maia Marten (Gal Gadot) has built her life on being one step ahead -- a sharp, resourceful, high-powered lawyer at the top of London's legal world. During her routine morning run, a single phone call shatters her world: her son has been taken. The instructions to get him back are simple and merciless -- keep moving, follow every command, and tell no one. Stop, and he dies. Forced to sprint through the city and obey a series of sinister commands, Maia must confront an impossible question: how far will she go to bring her son home? Set against the backdrop of London's hyper-connected streets, The Runner is a visceral, high-stakes race where every second counts, every choice carries a price, and a mother's unstoppable love becomes the most dangerous weapon of all.

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Producer: David Kosse
Screenwriter: Mark Gibson
Distributor: Prime Video
Production Co: Rockwood Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 2, 2026
Runtime: 1h 24m

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