Tag: thriller

The Runner (2026)

  • Director: Kevin Macdonald
  • Screenplay: Mark Gibson
  • Producer: David Kosse
  • Cast: Gal Gadot, Damian Lewis
  • Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
  • Editing: Sam Rice-Edwards
  • Score: Tom Hodge
  • Genre: Action thriller
  • Runtime: 84 minutes

When her son is kidnapped, Maia (Gal Gadot), a prosecutor, has just 60 minutes to run five miles through the heart of England’s capital to ensure his release. Before she can get him back safely, she’s instructed by a mysterious caller (Damian Lewis) to kill a key witness in an upcoming trial. To raise the stakes even higher, her son is diabetic and the threat of putting him into a hypoglycemic coma is dangled in front of her.

It’s fortunate that Maia is one of those people who jogs for fun. She’s jogging around Hampstead Heath when she gets the dreaded call. She’s dressed for the occasion for sure. I can barely manage running down a single street to catch my bus before I get a stitch and feel like I’m on the brink of collapse. I don’t know how she does it.

There’s going for a light jog and there’s this. Maia spends nearly the entire duration on foot, ending up a sweaty mess by the conclusion. She somehow has all the stamina in the world and not once decelerates. She’s almost hit by a bike, collides with pedestrians, falls flat on her face and is knocked off her feet by a car at one point and, nevertheless, staggers off after coming to in an ambulance. There’s some realism in the commotion of rush hour traffic, both in bipedal and vehicle forms, but that’s where the actuality ends. Maia should’ve been struck by more cars than that. The effects of adrenaline would’ve worn off halfway through. It’s theoretically possible yet there’d be far too many rude civilians on streets that would block her path.

Suspend your disbelief. ‘The Runner‘ is a tight, high-octane thriller which refuses to pause for a rest. Put simply, it’s a film about Gal Gadot running around, if that’s your kind of thing. As time runs out, we have to listen to the stiff dialogue between the caller and Maia as she races to her destination. Lewis is a menacing presence, lurking in the shadows, while Gadot never runs out of breath. Her acting is alright too.

My rating: 6 / 10

Shelter (2026)

  • Director: Ric Roman Waugh
  • Screenplay: Ward Parry
  • Cast: Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays
  • Cinematography: Martin Ahlgren
  • Editing: Matthew Newman
  • Score: David Buckley
  • Genre: Action thriller
  • Runtime: 107 minutes

With ‘Shelter‘, you know what you’re in for – a Jason Statham-starring action thriller. It’s nothing out of the ordinary; a high-octane big screen escapade where the plot plays second fiddle to fight scenes. He’s a dependable presence, as ever.

Michael Mason (Statham) lives unbothered on a wee Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, his only companion a dog. A young girl, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach, a future star), and her uncle drop off supplies for Michael on a weekly excursion to the isle. Choppy waters overturn the pair’s boat and, with her uncle unfortunately drowning, Jessie is left under the care of Michael after he dives in and rescues her from a watery fate.

There’s a reason Michael has chosen a life of seclusion: he’s a former black ops assassin who disobeyed his superiors by not killing an innocent man (see, he’s a good guy). For all intents and purposes, he’s a ghost, having faked his own death a decade earlier to avoid detection. Being a paternal figure wasn’t part of his plan so when his past catches up with him, he’s forced to abandon the peacefulness of his home. In an attempt to return Jessie to some semblance of safety, the duo dodge threats sent their way from a crooked government official (Bill Nighy).

The cinematography in the opening chapter on the island is fine; time-lapse photography showing the day progressing and the clouds whizzing by, emphasising the repetitive nature of such a mundane existence. An adequate buildup at the start helps to establish the feeling of an idyllic quietness…that’s shattered when a squad of soldiers wash ashore and we’re thrust into the action.

My rating: 6 / 10