What to Watch This Week: Gal Gadot Races Through The Runner as Hearsay Delivers a Chilling Thriller

Gal Gadot spends much of The Runner sprinting across London after a caller tells her that her kidnapped son may die unless she kills a key witness in a murder trial.

Gadot plays Maia, a lawyer and single mother who receives the threat while running in a park before a major trial. Her son Noah, played by Rory Wilmot, has diabetes. The caller, played by Damian Lewis, says he has tampered with the boy’s insulin, and an app on Maia’s phone shows that Noah has fallen into a coma.

The caller orders Maia to reach a hotel suite where the star witness is waiting to testify. He gives her an hour to kill the witness, warning that without the testimony, the accused murderer will go free. When Maia protests that she cannot kill anyone, he answers, “Oh, I think you can.”

Most of the film follows Maia as she runs through the city, collides with strangers, narrowly avoids cars and catches glimpses of London. The caller keeps talking as he probes her most vulnerable moments. The film includes several strong action sequences, although its script also relies on familiar clichés and a predictable twist about Maia’s background.

The review says Gadot projects tension effectively and appears more relaxed than in any of her films since Wonder Woman. It also suggests that the story can be read as a metaphor for the impossible demands placed on a single mother racing between competing obligations. Director Kevin Macdonald previously made One Day in September and The Last King of Scotland. His grandfather was the Hungarian Jewish filmmaker Emeric Pressburger.

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Oh, I think you can.