The runner review: Gal Gadot's Amazon thriller falls flat
The runner review Gal Gadot headlines this week is blunt: a frantic journey across London on foot gives the star plenty of exercise but not much reward for viewers. Variety critic Dennis Harvey calls Kevin Macdonald's Amazon Prime thriller energetic yet uninspired—a flashy rescue mission that never rises above generic potboiler territory.
Key Takeaways
- Gal Gadot stars as Maia Marten, a single mother forced to sprint across London after her son is abducted in Amazon's Prime Original thriller.
- Variety critic Dennis Harvey praises the film's pace but finds the screenplay routine, the twist unconvincing, and Gadot's performance mostly athletic rather than emotionally rich.
- Maia must kill a star witness within one hour or her diabetic son dies, tracked by a voice-only villain voiced by Damian Lewis.
- Director Kevin Macdonald's slick London-set thriller arrives as one of many action-ready-parent rescue stories, with scant substance beneath its stylish surface.
What is 'The Runner' about?
According to Variety's review, Maia Marten (Gal Gadot) is an emigre single mother and top-firm lawyer prosecuting a notorious crime boss for murdering two women. On the day a heavily guarded star witness is set to testify, an unnamed caller abducts her roughly eight-year-old son Noah and demands she use her security clearance to kill the witness within one hour.
The caller tracks Maia through her phone as the former track champion races across London on foot. She dodges pedestrians, survives vehicle collisions, and is forbidden from seeking police help—or her diabetic son dies. Harvey notes it is hardly the first thriller built around an action-ready parent battling a diabolical abductor to save a child.
How does Variety rate Gal Gadot's performance?
Harvey writes that Gadot tours London at an athletic pace but is "not inclined to lend much more than athleticism" to a role crying out for warmth and idiosyncrasy. Damian Lewis, glimpsed onscreen only in the final stretch, similarly plays the most predictable beats of an uninspired villain part.
Mark Gibson's screenplay moves briskly but feels routine throughout. Maia's dialogue—declaring she will "give those murdered women a voice"—and the caller's taunts about "exerting will over violent men" land as painfully on-the-nose. The villain's periodic "tick, tick, tick" reminders underscore an urgent deadline viewers already grasp.
Is 'The Runner' worth streaming on Prime Video?
For subscribers weighing whether to press play, Harvey's verdict is cautious at best. The frantic foot chase across London gives Gadot a workout, yet "not much reward for viewers." Macdonald's Prime Original looks slick, but its design and technical polish never elevate material with "scant substance beneath."
Tom Hodge's percussive, bongo-heavy score and bookending Blondie tracks ("Heart of Glass," "Hanging on the Telephone") aim for flippant retro cool but only highlight the film's personality deficit. An eventual big twist, Harvey argues, feels too trickily over-contrived to impress or convince.
Keep up with more streaming reviews in our Streaming & TV Alerts hub as Prime Video and rival platforms roll out their latest originals this fall.