REVIEW: The Runner (2026 Film) - Starring Gal Gadot

Amazon Director:

"So I got an idea for a film.

Amazon Boss:

"I'm listening"

Amazon Director:

"Gal Gadot, in skin tight Lycra, running through London for 85 minutes, we'll call it The Runner"A

Amazon Boss:

"Genius, how much money do you need?"

True story, probably. 

Review by Jon Donnis

The Runner wastes very little time getting started. Maia Marten is introduced as a successful London prosecutor and devoted mother, but her carefully controlled life is shattered when she receives a phone call telling her that her diabetic son Noah has been kidnapped. The instructions are brutally simple. Keep running, follow the orders and tell nobody. If she stops, her son dies.

From there, The Runner settles into an unusual rhythm. Rather than building towards a conventional series of action set pieces, director Kevin Macdonald places Gal Gadot's Maia in what is essentially a race against the clock, with the story playing out almost in real time. It is an intriguing approach, and at its best the film creates a genuine sense of urgency as Maia tears through London trying to save her son while simultaneously attempting to work out who is behind the entire ordeal.

Visually, The Runner is one of the film's strongest elements. Macdonald's direction gives Maia's journey a physicality that makes the audience feel as though they are being dragged through the streets alongside her. The camera keeps the action immediate, while the constantly changing locations help prevent the film from becoming visually monotonous. Maia moves through roads, public transport, underground tunnels, bridges and buildings, and the city becomes as much a part of the chase as the characters themselves.

The decision to make Maia spend so much of the film running is also surprisingly effective initially. There is something inherently stressful about watching a character desperately trying to reach a destination while knowing that every second could mean the difference between life and death. The ticking-clock element gives even the quieter moments a degree of tension.

The psychological side of the story is another positive. The Caller is not simply giving Maia physical obstacles to overcome. He knows intimate details about her life and uses them to psychologically dismantle her while she is already under enormous pressure. The revelations concerning Maia's family and the death of her father add another layer to what initially appears to be a straightforward kidnapping thriller.

Gal Gadot is also well cast in the central role. She gives Maia enough determination and vulnerability to make the character believable as a mother pushed into increasingly desperate circumstances. Gadot is convincing when Maia is frightened, exhausted and under pressure, while she also sells the physical demands of the role. There is no denying that she looks the part while sprinting through London.

Damian Lewis, meanwhile, gets an interesting role as the mysterious Caller. Much of his performance is delivered through his voice rather than physical presence, which gives the character an appropriately detached quality. His knowledge of Maia's life makes his phone calls increasingly uncomfortable, although the film could arguably have done more with the character. Leaving his face reveal to the end seems silly, when we all know it is Damian Lewis, he has a recognisable voice, and it didn't really make much of a difference.

The eventual resolution is satisfying. The film does not simply throw a last-minute twist at the audience and leave everything hanging. It also answers some of the questions raised throughout the film and gives the story a reasonably neat conclusion.

There is also a nice final touch when Maia receives another mysterious call in the car and simply throws her phone away rather than answering it. After everything she has endured, it is an appropriately cynical little moment.

Unfortunately, The Runner is also a film where the limitations of the premise become increasingly apparent.

The biggest problem is that there simply is not enough substance here to justify the feature-length treatment. The basic concept is strong. A mother is forced to run across London while a mysterious caller threatens to kill her son. That is a perfectly workable thriller premise. But once the initial novelty wears off, the film begins to feel as though it is stretching a relatively thin idea across its running time.

The film is around 80 minutes, which is certainly not excessive, and the brisk pace means it never becomes a complete slog. In fact, the short runtime probably helps it considerably. Even so, there were moments when I found myself thinking that The Runner might actually have been more effective at around an hour. Some sequences feel like they exist primarily to get Maia from one location to the next rather than because they are particularly important to the story.

That leads to another issue. For something sold as a pulse-pounding action thriller, there simply is not enough action. There is plenty of movement, but running is not the same thing as action. Gadot spends a considerable amount of the film sprinting from one place to another, and while she certainly looks impressive doing it, eventually you start wanting something more substantial to happen.

There are moments that attempt to break this up, including the car accident, the Underground chase and Maia's escape from the police, but I wanted more. Given Gadot's action background, The Runner feels like it is leaving a considerable amount of potential on the table. Maia could have been tougher, more resourceful and more physically capable. Instead, the film often makes her feel like an ordinary woman who happens to be exceptionally good at running.

The portrayal of London is another problem, and one that becomes difficult to ignore.

The film's version of London feels strangely disconnected from the real city. At one point Maia's phone is stolen on the train by two English White men, and this was probably the single least convincing moment in the entire film. More broadly, London appears remarkably white throughout the story, despite Maia travelling through parts of the capital where that simply would not reflect the city most people actually encounter.

This gives the film the feeling of a Hollywood interpretation of London rather than London itself. The locations may be recognisable, but the people and atmosphere surrounding them often do not feel authentic. Anyone familiar with the route Maia takes would likely notice the disconnect.

There is also an uncomfortable question hanging over the entire production. Watching Gal Gadot run around London for 80 minutes, it is difficult not to wonder whether the film was developed around having Gadot first and the story second. The premise is good enough to stand on its own, but there are moments when it feels as though the filmmakers have found an attractive action star and then built a relatively simple thriller around her.

That is not necessarily a criticism of Gadot herself. In fact, she is one of the reasons the film works as well as it does. She gives Maia enough emotional credibility to keep the audience invested, and her presence makes the film considerably more watchable. The problem is that the script does not always give her enough interesting material to work with.

Ultimately, The Runner is a difficult film to score.

I happily sat through the whole thing, and importantly, I was never tempted to constantly check my phone. That is worth something. The film held my attention, maintained a decent sense of urgency and delivered an ending that brought the various strands together.

But I cannot ignore the fact that it is relatively weak on substance. Some scenes feel like filler, the action is lighter than you might expect, and the central concept is stretched close to its limits. The London setting also feels artificial in places, which undermines what should have been one of the film's biggest advantages.

There is definitely a good thriller hiding inside The Runner. The real-time structure works, the visual presentation is strong, Gal Gadot delivers a solid and believable performance, and the conclusion is satisfying. I simply wanted more from it. More action, more depth, a tougher Maia and a story substantial enough to justify being a feature film.

The Runner is entertaining enough to keep you watching, but it never quite becomes the relentless, bruising thriller its premise promises.

I score The Runner a very generous 7 out of 10. Mainly because it kept my attention, which takes a lot these days, but maybe that was more to do with Gadot running in skin tight Lycra as opposed to a captivating story.

Out Now on Prime Video

https://link.amazon/B0cSCn3XM

PREVIEW: Burner (2026 Film) - Starring Kacy Owens and Akina Wylie

Preview by Jon Donnis

Burner arrives as a new female led action thriller from writer and director Robert Orr, set to make its UK digital debut on 1 June courtesy of Seven Tales. It follows a familiar but combustible setup, where a second chance at life is quickly threatened by the weight of a violent past that refuses to stay buried.

At the centre of the story is Kiki, played by Kacy Owens, who is released from prison and regains custody of her teenage daughter Lola Ray, played by Akina Wylie. Kiki is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, trying to build something stable after her release, with motherhood giving her a clear focus and a reason to move forward.

That fragile stability does not last long. Her violent drug dealing ex husband, played by James Oliver Wheatley, reappears and drags her back towards the criminal world she has tried to leave behind. His return brings immediate danger and the kind of pressure that threatens not just her freedom, but her relationship with her daughter as well.

As the situation tightens, Kiki is forced into a position where avoidance is no longer an option. The story pushes her towards confronting her past directly, with the suggestion that the only way out might involve destroying the ties that once defined her life, even if that comes at a heavy cost.

Burner positions itself as a fast moving, tension driven thriller built around survival, loyalty and consequence. With its focus on a mother fighting to protect her daughter while facing down a criminal past that refuses to let go, it is shaping up as a release that leans heavily into personal stakes and escalating danger.

On digital 1 June from Seven Tales  

Apple TV - https://apple.co/4oe0EKd

REVIEW: In the Grey (2026 Film) - Starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González, Kristofer Hivju, Fisher Stevens, and Rosamund Pike

Review by Jon Donnis

Guy Ritchie’s In the Grey feels like a deliberate throwback to the kind of muscular action thrillers that used to dominate late night DVD shelves and crowded multiplexes in the early 2000s. It is stylish, loud, occasionally messy, and completely uninterested in pretending to be anything deeper than a fast moving crime thriller with attractive people pointing guns at each other across exotic locations. In truth, that works in its favour more often than not.

The setup is pure Ritchie. A covert team operating in the shadows is tasked with retrieving a stolen billion dollar fortune from a dangerous despot, only for the mission to spiral into double crosses, hidden agendas and escalating violence. The plot itself is not especially original, but the film survives on energy, chemistry and confidence. Ritchie knows exactly the sort of film he is making here and rarely wastes time pretending otherwise.

Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal make for an entertaining duo as Sid and Bronco, two extraction specialists who spend much of the film bouncing between deadpan humour and brutal action. Cavill in particular looks completely at home in this sort of role. There is a relaxed charisma to him throughout, almost as if he has been waiting years for a film that allows him to simply be cool without drowning him in mythology or franchise baggage. Gyllenhaal meanwhile brings a slightly twitchier edge, giving Bronco enough unpredictability to stop him feeling like just another wisecracking action hero.

Still, the real standout is Eiza González as Rachel Wild. She walks away with the film whenever she appears. Smart, confident and effortlessly magnetic, she injects genuine life into scenes that might otherwise have been little more than exposition dumps and gunfire. There is an old fashioned movie star quality to her performance here that lifts the entire production. Ritchie clearly knows it too, because the film increasingly bends around her presence as it goes on.

For the first hour, In the Grey feels almost too relaxed with itself. There is plenty of style, plenty of witty dialogue and enough swagger to keep things watchable, but the pacing occasionally drifts. It is not until the final half hour that the film properly explodes into life. Once the rescue mission kicks into gear, the film becomes exactly what audiences probably hoped for walking in. The gunfights are chaotic and aggressive, the betrayals come quickly, and Ritchie finally leans fully into the mix of comedy and violence that made his earlier crime films so entertaining.

The humour is another strong point. The dialogue is filled with sharp little exchanges and sarcastic throwaway lines that stop the film becoming overly self serious. Even during the heavier action scenes there is always a sense that the characters are enjoying themselves, which becomes infectious after a while.

That said, the film is undeniably rough around the edges. The continuity can be distractingly jagged at times, with scenes feeling cut down or rearranged in ways that are difficult to ignore. Certain character motivations suddenly change without much explanation, while some plot threads appear and disappear so quickly that they barely register. It strongly suggests the film underwent substantial editing to squeeze itself into the roughly 90 minute runtime. Another twenty minutes might actually have helped smooth everything out.

There are also moments where the action becomes slightly difficult to follow. Ritchie’s fast editing style works brilliantly when the rhythm clicks, but occasionally scenes move so quickly that geography and logic start to blur together. Thankfully, the film never becomes boring. Even at its most chaotic, it keeps charging forward with enough momentum to carry the audience through the confusion.

In the Grey is not trying to reinvent the action thriller. It is a straightforward Guy Ritchie film filled with criminals, mercenaries, betrayals, sharp suits and bullets. Sometimes that is enough. In an era where so many blockbusters feel overstuffed with self importance and endless franchise setup, there is something refreshing about a film that simply wants to entertain for ninety minutes.

It may be slightly by the numbers, and the editing issues are impossible to ignore, but the performances, humour and final act are strong enough to make it easy to recommend to fans of old school action thrillers.

In the Grey earns a solid 8 out of 10.

Out Now - https://apple.co/4tzkMY1

PREVIEW: Rememory (2026 Film) - Starring Michaël Cohen

Preview by Jon Donnis

Action thrillers rarely hinge on an idea as unusual as this. Rememory arrives on UK digital 29 June, with a premise that blends reincarnation with a relentless crime chase, setting the stage for a story that moves as quickly as it intrigues. At its centre is David, a French police officer drawn far from home to Thailand, following a lead that sounds almost impossible to believe.

That lead comes in the form of Ravi, a young boy who claims to remember a previous life as Floyd, a man once connected to a dangerous criminal network. Rather than dismiss it, David sees an opportunity. Alongside his colleague Joanna, he begins to piece together the fragments of Floyd’s past through Ravi’s memories, using them to track a criminal enterprise that has remained just out of reach. It is an uneasy alliance, built on something neither fully understands, yet too valuable to ignore.

The stakes rise quickly as those same memories place Ravi in immediate danger. The closer David and Joanna get to the truth, the clearer it becomes that the organisation they are pursuing will do anything to silence the boy. What follows looks set to be a tense race against time, where protection and pursuit become one and the same. With its mix of high-speed action and a concept rooted in memory and identity, Rememory promises a thriller where the past is not just relevant, it is the key to everything.

Rememory, arriving on UK digital 29 June, thanks to Miracle Media.

Interview with Director Scott Mann

Ahead of HEIST airing on LEGEND XTRA on April 6, director Scott Mann looks back on collaborating with Robert De Nero, explains how personal family loss shaped the creation of FALL, and reveals how HEIST went on to influence the launch of his innovative company FLAWLESS.

LEGEND XTRA is broadcasting your 2015 crime thriller HEIST. Looking back what are your fondest memories of making the film?

 

The cast, without question, Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dave Bautista, Gina Carano, Kate Bosworth. It was a tough shoot, filming on a moving bus without a Speed-level budget, but it was also one of the first films I made that really came from the heart. Under the heist-thriller setup, it's a story about fatherhood, Jeff's character will do anything to save his daughter, which puts him up against De Niro's intimidating criminal.

 

The film plays heavily with shifting loyalties. How did you ensure those twists felt earned rather than purely plot-driven?

 

By grounding everything in character truth. I actually had an early call with De Niro where he nearly dropped out because the script had real issues, and he'd spotted the same problems I had. I was honest about it, and we ended up working through the character together in New York. That rewrite became the foundation: if the characters' choices are authentic, the twists feel inevitable, surprising but earned.

 

What was your approach to building tension within the confined space of the bus for much of the film?

 

You need ticking clocks, escalating stakes, and the sense that there's no escape. The premise creates inevitability: a dangerous crime against someone who will stop at nothing to punish the people responsible. From there it's about pacing, reveals, and finding fresh ways to keep the audience surprised.

 

Crime thrillers often follow familiar beats. What did you want to do differently with Heist to stand out within the genre?

 

Keep it character-first. The single-location constraint forces you into dynamics, reversals, and meaningful surprises. The film is designed to build toward a strong third act, the payoff matters as much as the setup.

 

Your heart-stopping survival thriller FALL closed FrightFest in 2022. What do you remember about the experience?

Fall is my favourite filmmaking experience, and the hardest. It was also the most honest. I learned that originality often comes from stripping things back: smaller scale can mean more creative control. On Fall, I had the freedom to cast the best actors for the roles, Virginia Gardner and Grace Caroline Currey, and we filmed at height with a small crew in brutal conditions. It was gruelling, but it bonded us and created something I'm incredibly proud of. The story was personal too, it came out of grief my family experienced, and the film became part of processing that.

 

The film relies heavily on fear of heights. How did you translate vertigo into a cinematic language that feels physical and immediate?

 

It starts with the characters. The concept came from standing on a stadium roof during another shoot and asking: why does height create such intense anxiety? You communicate it through performance, tension, and the audience being slightly ahead, seeing danger before the characters do. Ultimately, the actors sell the fear.

 

What were the biggest logistical challenges in creating the illusion of extreme height while keeping cast and crew safe?

 

Making something look unsafe while keeping it safe. We built multiple towers, including one about 100 feet high, and had to find a mountaintop location with the right vista and workable access. That meant carving roads to get equipment up, managing tight shooting windows, and adapting constantly, wind, weather, everything. We filmed during COVID as well, which added another layer, but being outdoors helped.

 

You are Co-CEO of FLAWLESS AI, a company pioneering ethical, AI-driven visual effects and post-production technology for Hollywood. Can you describe the impact your DeepEditor tool continues to have on the filmmaking process?

 

Heist actually inspired Flawless. Seeing how dubbing compromises performance, especially in foreign-language versions, sent me looking for a better solution. Our earliest prototype was a Heist scene with De Niro, where we synced his performance to authentic foreign-language dialogue. That became the foundation of what we built: tools that help filmmakers preserve performances responsibly.

 

With all the confusion and controversy swirling around the use of AI in movies, what ethical boundaries do you think filmmakers should establish when using generative AI in production?

 

 

The key distinction is assistive vs. generative. Tools that enhance artistry, acting, directing, editing, can be hugely positive. But generative systems that replace artists or rely on scraped IP are dangerous and unethical. Audiences want human connection, not synthetic photocopies. AI should protect and amplify performance, not erase it.

Finally, what's next?

 

Flawless is now being adopted across major studios, and you'll see more multi-language versions of content rolling out over the next year. Creatively, we have Fall sequels in progress, one nearing completion and another I'll direct, incorporating new technologies in an exciting way.

 

HEIST is showing on LEGEND XTRA on Mon 6 April, 9.00pm.

Available: SKY 317 | FREELY 51 |  FREESAT 138 | FREEVIEW 69 | VIRGIN 171

REVIEW: Shelter (2026 film) - Starring Jason Statham

Review by Jon Donnis

Ric Roman Waugh's Shelter arrives with a premise that feels immediately recognisable. A former assassin in hiding, a shadowy agency that refuses to let him disappear, and a young innocent caught in the middle. It is territory that action cinema has explored many times before. What keeps Shelter engaging is not the originality of the idea, but the confidence of the execution and the presence of Jason Statham at the centre of it all.

Statham plays Michael Mason, a former operative of an elite government kill team known as the Black Kites. Having turned his back on the agency, Mason now lives alone on a small island off the coast of Scotland, (apparently filmed in Ireland) keeping his distance from the world and from the violent life he once led. His quiet routine is broken when Jessie, a young girl grieving the death of her mother, becomes stranded on the island during a storm. When Mason ventures to the mainland to buy supplies for her, his presence is noticed by his former handler Manafort, who quickly sets events in motion that drag Mason back into a conflict he had hoped to escape.

The Scottish (really Ireland) setting gives the film a welcome sense of atmosphere. Windswept coastlines, isolated farms and dimly lit rural roads create a backdrop that suits the film's tone of quiet tension. Waugh uses these locations well, giving the story a grounded feel that contrasts nicely with the bursts of violence that erupt throughout the film.

As expected, the action is where Shelter finds most of its energy. The film delivers several intense driving sequences and some particularly brutal hand to hand fights that allow Statham to do what he does best. The confrontations feel physical and immediate, with punches landing heavily and fights unfolding in tight spaces that heighten the sense of danger. Fans of Statham's particular brand of action will recognise the rhythm straight away. The film hits the familiar marks but does so with enough confidence to remain entertaining.

Much of the film's emotional weight comes from the relationship between Mason and Jessie. Bodhi Rae Breathnach gives a strong performance as the young girl who slowly breaks through Mason's guarded exterior. Their scenes together give the story a bit of warmth and prevent the film from becoming a simple sequence of chases and fights. Statham, often cast as the silent professional, finds a convincing balance between hardened killer and reluctant protector. The chemistry between the two works surprisingly well and becomes one of the film's stronger elements.

The supporting cast also contributes solid performances. Bill Nighy brings a quiet menace to Manafort, Mason's former handler who refuses to let his rogue operative disappear. Daniel Mays adds some welcome personality as Mason's friend Arthur Booth, while Naomi Ackie's Roberta provides a glimpse into the cold bureaucracy behind the operation. None of these characters are particularly complex, but the actors give them enough presence to keep the story moving.

Despite its strengths, Shelter never fully escapes the feeling that it is following a well worn path. The central concept is very familiar and the plot developments rarely surprise. Many of the twists can be seen coming well in advance, which removes some of the tension from the story. Viewers who have seen a few films in this genre will likely recognise the structure long before the final act arrives.

The opening half hour also moves at a slightly slower pace than it needs to. The early scenes of Mason's isolated life establish the character and the setting, but they linger a little too long before the main conflict begins. Once the action properly starts the film finds its rhythm, though the initial stretch may test the patience of some viewers.

Fortunately, Shelter keeps its running time to a sensible one hour and forty five minutes. The film moves briskly once the chase begins and avoids overstaying its welcome. By the time Mason confronts the people who want him eliminated, the story has built enough momentum to carry it through to a satisfying conclusion.

Shelter does not attempt to reinvent the action thriller, and in truth it never really tries to. Instead it focuses on delivering a solid, straightforward piece of entertainment built around a dependable action star, a striking Scottish backdrop and a handful of well staged set pieces. The result is a film that may be predictable, but is rarely dull.

In the end, Shelter stands as a perfectly decent action film. The story may feel familiar and the early pacing is a little slow, but the performances and the action keep it consistently watchable. Jason Statham once again proves why he remains one of the most reliable leads in this genre.

I enjoyed it, and I would happily watch it again. Shelter earns a strong 8.5 out of 10.

Out Now on Apple TV - https://apple.co/4l4ehtK

REVIEW: Dust Bunny (2025 Film) - Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sophie Sloan, Sheila Atim, David Dastmalchian, and Sigourney Weaver

Review by Jon Donnis

Bryan Fuller's Dust Bunny arrives as an oddity and a welcome one. This is a fantasy action film that looks like nothing else in the current studio landscape and feels deeply personal for a feature debut. Fuller leans into mood, fairytale logic and emotional instinct rather than tidy explanations, which gives the film a strange, haunting pull even when it stumbles.

The story centres on Resident 5B, a weary hit man played by Mads Mikkelsen, who is approached by eight-year-old Aurora (Sophie Sloan) after her family is brutally killed. She believes a monster under her bed ate them (A literal bunny made out of dust). He suspects something more human and far more dangerous. What follows is a collision between assassin thriller, childhood fantasy and horror, set largely inside a New York apartment building that feels both mundane and cursed.

Visually, the film is often striking. Fuller has a good eye for colour, shadow and offbeat imagery, and the early Chinatown sequence involving a dragon costume hiding armed gang members sets the tone beautifully. There is a confidence here in letting atmosphere do the heavy lifting. Scenes breathe. Silence is allowed. The film trusts the audience to keep up emotionally, even if the logic occasionally slips.

Mikkelsen is excellent. He brings his usual physical authority and sense of danger, but also a surprising gentleness. Watching him shift from bone crunching violence to quiet, protective warmth with Aurora is the film's emotional backbone. Sophie Sloan is equally impressive, carrying a role that asks her to balance vulnerability, conviction and something eerily knowing. Their relationship gives the film its heart. Sigourney Weaver's Laverne adds a sharper edge, and her presence lends weight to the film's darker turns.

Where Dust Bunny falters is in its pacing. Despite a runtime of around 100 minutes, the middle section drags as the narrative loops around similar beats. The escalation into larger action and mythic horror is effective in intent, but not always in execution. Some of the CGI, particularly involving the monster itself, is uneven and occasionally breaks the spell just when the film needs to hold it tight.

The horror elements are also more brutal than expected. There are moments that verge on savage, which firmly rule this out for younger viewers despite its child protagonist and fairytale framing. This tonal clash will work for some and alienate others, depending on tolerance for sudden violence.

Still, the ending lands with real power. Fuller closes on a note of hope rather than fear, suggesting that love and care are the only real defences against the monsters we create or inherit.

Dust Bunny is not a perfect film. It has a strong opening, a slower middle and a striking, confident finale. But originality counts for a great deal, and this is a wholly original piece of fantasy horror anchored by strong performances and a clear emotional core. For mid teens and adults willing to embrace its odd rhythms and rough edges, it is a memorable experience.

I enjoyed Dust Bunny and would give it a solid 8 out of 10. With tighter pacing and more polished effects, it could have been even better.

Out Now

https://apple.co/4t7TwAK