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The Runner (2026)


The Runner is directed by Kevin Macdonald and written by Mark Gibson, and it starts off incredibly cringe. Considering Gibson's past work, that isn't exactly surprising, but the camera work and directing choices are all over the place as well. The premise itself is already pretty unrealistic, and the movie does very little to make it believable. It also doesn't help that the pacing makes the whole thing feel much longer than it actually is.

Gal Gadot's portrayal of a mother is so awful that I started wondering if she's ever actually interacted with her own children. There are moments where she runs with decent form, but then there are other times when she's running all limp-wristed, exactly as you'd expect someone who clearly isn't a runner to run. More importantly, her character is incredibly difficult to take seriously. Even though she has a kidnapped child, she still acts like she should be bossing the kidnapper around. It doesn't feel like a believable reaction to the situation at all.

Damian Lewis has a sinister voice that works pretty well for the villain, but that's about where the performance ends. There's a few moments in the movie where he overtly said he was bored, and honestly, I found myself just as bored as he was. That's a reference to the movie, but you'd have to see it to understand what I mean. Unfortunately, the rest of the supporting performances don't do much to make the movie more engaging either.

I know Gal Gadot needs some work as an actress, but she should really stay away from movies like this if it's obvious from the start that they're going to be bad. The combination of an unrealistic premise, awkward directing, poor performances, and the constant modern-day messaging made this a pretty miserable experience. There are some ideas here that could have worked, but the execution is just not there. Result: D+

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