The Runner

"One hour. One chance to save her son."

2026 1h 26m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 633

ThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Maia Marten, a brilliant London lawyer, has her life shattered by a single call on her morning run: her son has been taken. To get him back, she must keep running, obey every ruthless command, and trust no one-each second a test of how far a mother will go to save her child.

“One hour. One chance to save her son.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Gal Gadot
Maia
Damian Lewis
The Caller
Rory Wilmot
Noah
Alfred Enoch
Ted
Phoenix Di Sebastiani
Tafa
Nathan Kirby
Wiry Dude
Hélder Fernandes
Buddy
Will Austin
NCA Officer 1

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Writers: Mark Gibson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kevin Macdonald, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tom Hodge. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sam Rice-Edwards shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gal Gadot and Damian Lewis and Rory Wilmot carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "One hour. One chance to save her son.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kevin Macdonald directs. Anthony Dod Mantle behind the camera. Tom Hodge scores. Sam Rice-Edwards cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
4Directed by Kevin Macdonald, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Tom Hodge. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Sam Rice-Edwards shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gal Gadot and Damian Lewis and Rory Wilmot carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "One hour. One chance to save her son.".
9IMDB entry: tt34564059 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "mother", "london, england", "kidnapping", "son".

The technical file

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Original score: Tom Hodge
Editing: Sam Rice-Edwards
Production design: Kevin Timon Hill
Costume design: Michael O'Connor
Makeup / hair: Julie Dartnell
VFX supervisor: Mary Stroumpouli
Sound: Glenn Freemantle
Stunt coordinator: Paul Kennington
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Runner (2026)
MPAA: PG-13

Also by

Kevin Macdonald

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Brent Marchant2026-09-03
★ 4/10
Pulse-pounding deadline-based thrillers have become a common source of action-adventure viewing over the years. These largely formulaic offerings are often fairly predictable, with their outcomes frequently obvious well in advance, the only variable generally being the routes their narratives take to arrive at their final destinations. So it is again with this latest effort from director Kevin MacDonald, a typically capable filmmaker who comes up woefully short with this release. When London-based criminal attorney Maia Marten (Gal Godot) goes on her usual morning run before her latest big court case, she’s interrupted in mid-sprint by a cell phone call supposedly from her young son, Noah (Rory Wilmot). However, when she answers, she discovers it’s not from him but, instead, from an anonymous mystery caller (Damian Lewis) who has kidnapped Noah and threatens to kill him unless she follows his instructions to the letter. Specifically, the kidnapper wants Maia to murder a key witness in the case against his former employer, a high-profile mobster accused of killing two young women. But, to ensure that she complies with his directives, the caller says he’s tracking her movements by tapping into the geolocator on her cell phone. This requires her to remain out in the open, on the street, a plan that calls for the former champion pentathlete to run five miles across London in an hour to the hotel where the witness is in protective custody prior to his transfer to the courthouse. This setup thus launches the protagonist into her trek across the city, a journey filled with twists, turns, thrills, spills and the revelation of a variety of highly personal details, including long-held secrets. But is she up to this task? (You get three guesses.) As this scenario unfolds, though, the story is peppered with an array of credibility-stretching implausibilities that not even Wonder Woman herself is realistically capable of pulling off. Indeed, while tales like this typically call for viewers to suspend belief, many of the developments in this plot hole-ridden story are just plain difficult to accept. Admittedly, the narrative is stylishly dressed up in a superbly edited, fast-paced package with some inventive cinematography that shows off street-level London exquisitely, but such window dressing still can’t conceal the plethoric flaws in the script. With better writing and plot scrutiny, “The Runner” might have made for some late summer escapist fun, but it’s hard to fathom it as being much more than a paycheck for the principals involved and yet another in an ongoing string of substandard outings for Amazon Studios.
The Fixate & Binge Podcast, w/ Joe Curdy2026-09-11
★ 2/10
You've seen this film before. When it was 1995's NICK OF TIME and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, 2002's PHONE BOOTH, 2003's OUT OF TIME, 2005's RED EYE, or even Netflix's CARRY-ON (2024) -- well, you get the idea. Films like THE RUNNER do not happen in a vacuum. And the formula is clearly working, as director Kevin Macdonald's film (wisely released direct to streaming on Amazon Prime) is already one of the platform's top films. Starring Gal Gadot as high-powered London barrister Maia, whose child is held for ransom by a mysterious Caller (Damian Lewis) in exchange for assassinating the star witness of a local mob trial -- it's a premise that sounds increasingly preposterous the more you think about it. Despite its RUN LOLA RUN pacing, with endless clips of Gal Gadot sprinting across every tourist locale in London, from St. Paul's to Canary Wharf, the implausibility of running the London Marathon in 84 minutes strains credulity. The always-one-step-ahead omniscience of Lewis's character, effortlessly bending hacked technology to his whims, is another worn-out trope that refuses to die. As diabolical and meticulous as Lewis is, one wonders why he doesn't just carry out the assassination himself instead of putting Gadot through a series of ridiculous time trials during the hustle and bustle of mid-day London. And while Gadot gamely carries the physical desperation of a single mother trying to save her child, unfortunately, the film leans into her limited range as an actress, with dull dialogue and pointless conversational exposition. As a tense action thriller, THE RUNNER will probably appeal to anyone unfamiliar with any of the aforementioned films in this subgenre. But for anyone else, this is a paint-by-numbers slog through familiar terrain that will do nothing for Gadot's post-WONDER WOMAN career.
Sierbahnn2026-10-06
★ 5/10
I think we have to conclude that this movie is just not any good. The premise has been seen before in many movies and it hasn't gotten better with time. With surveillance technology, it should have actually improved, but it just appears to be the same old thing. We also have to come to the conclusion that our main actress is simply not very good. The failure to emote and the failure to be believable in any of our human interactions just marks down Gal Gadot's character as a completely unrelatable. The ending is also utterly unearned. There are no stakes and no tension to it since we aren't privy to the twist the movie wants to spring that on us, but we can't have it both ways, and it simply does not land. The main antagonist is good as a voice on the phone, but does very little on screen, and I think that is a wasted opportunity. Overall, this was an utter disappointment, and I'm sorry I wasted my time on it. It is very polished, which is why I won't give it a lower rating, but it isn't any good.