Are you going to see The Runner this week? Or were you thinking of Runner? Are we talking about the same thing? Actually, we’re not. One is a Prime Video streaming movie starring Gal Gadot. The other stars Alan Ritchson, who also headlines a series for the same streaming service. Both films are race-against-time thrillers, but only one delivers bone-crunching thrills.
That doesn’t make this Runner good, only passable. What’s remarkable is how grating the entire experience can be for a film that runs just over 90 minutes. Still, the difference is that the Reacher star can act. The most talented man in Hollywood can convey deep sorrow and poignant emotion just as convincingly as he can send a fist through a man’s torso as if it were drywall.
The story follows Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson), a former American Special Forces soldier who now makes his living as a transplant and runner in Queensland, Australia. Living on a makeshift houseboat built from a freight container, he works relentlessly, some might say to distract himself from the loss of his adorable three-year-old daughter.
What is Runner about?
Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Rodrigo Santoro in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Rodrigo Santoro in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Hank has just received his one-year sobriety chip. He calls his ex-wife, Monica (Geraldine Hakewill), who congratulates him but has clearly moved on. The only thing keeping Hank going is his work, so when his boss, Iggy, asks him to take a last-minute medical transplant assignment, he agrees to meet the courier, Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson), at the airport.
Ben tells Hank that the liver they are delivering is a “Golden” blood type, Rh-null, for a child in a hospital who will die by 5 pm without it. However, on the way, members of a Zaldivar cartel chase them. Leading the way is Damian (Lost‘s Rodrigo Santoro), who murdered a man in the States so he can intercept the organ for his dying mother.
Now, it is a race against time to deliver a life-saving liver to a little girl that could cost both Hank and Ben their lives.
Runner Review
Owen Wilson in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
Runner is from writer-director Scott Waugh, who showed promise with his 2012 action spectacular Act of Valor. However, his follow-up, Need for Speed, was underwhelming. The jaw-droppingly bad John Cena vehicle Hidden Strike was a massive box-office bomb, but it was the sixth most-watched film on Netflix in 2023, making us wonder whether he would ever get another chance to direct a feature film.
Waugh finds a star who can lift the material and his direction. Ritchson excels in action, comedy, and nuanced performances, fitting the bill here. Ritchson is good here, packing a punch in action and giving his Hank unexpected depth, which is a surprise coming from Angel Studios. The messaging is hardly heavy-handed or grounded in faith-based gobbledygook, excuse my language.
However, I wouldn’t call the pairing of Ritchson and Wilson fun, which is strange for a film that tries to capitalize on buddy-comedy vibes. Something feels off about their interactions, making them seem almost independent of one another and never developing the chemistry needed to add levity or give weight to the big emotional climax the film is working toward.
Is Runner worth watching?
Alan Ritchson in Runner (2026) | Image via Angel Studios
It wouldn’t surprise me if it later came out that the duo shot their scenes separately, each staring at a tennis ball, and were digitally composited together afterward. Honestly, Ritchson would have had just as much chemistry with the Wilson from Cast Away.
Yes, the film is action-packed with a few genuine thrills. At first, I worried the studio would try to sanitize it. Surprisingly, the filmmakers go all in and then go so over the top that it becomes gratuitous. That brings up a moral issue of how many people have to die for one girl to be saved? The script from Miles Hubley and Tommy White doesn’t even hint at that moral calculus.
If you’re a fan of one star’s action pedigree and the other’s charming shtick, which is significantly watered down, Runner may be the generic, occasionally fun throwback many are looking for. The good news is that the heartfelt, poignant brawn of Ritchson’s performance carries the audience most of the way through the picture. Unfortunately, even he can’t carry Runner across the finish line to make the movie worth your time.
You can watch Runner exclusively in theaters starting September 11th!
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