{
  "id": 5008105,
  "title": "‘The Runner’ Review: Gal Gadot Is a Mother on a Rescue Mission in an Energetic but Uninspired Amazon Thriller",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/the-runner-review-gal-gadot-is-a-mother-on-a-rescue-mission-in-an",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-02T04:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Variety",
    "slug": "variety",
    "url": "https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/the-runner-review-gal-gadot-1236847013/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Gal Gadot stars in the Amazon thriller \"The Runner,\" where she plays a mother on a mission to rescue her kidnapped son. According to Variety, the film features a frantic journey across London on foot, providing plenty of action for Gadot but little reward for viewers. TheWrap reports that her son is kidnapped by Damian Lewis's character, who threatens to kill him unless Gadot kills a star witness in a murder trial within an hour.\n\nTheWrap describes the villain's plan as flawed, with Lewis's character springing the ultimatum on Gadot while she's on her morning jog, giving her ample time to come up with a plan to stop him. The situation becomes chaotic, with Gadot facing numerous unpredictable obstacles as she runs across London. TheWrap also notes that the villain's backup plan is a bomb, which would have caused more harm.\n\nVariety describes \"The Runner\" as an \"energetic but uninspired\" thriller, with TheWrap criticizing the film's reliance on a familiar plot device where a villain kidnaps a hero's loved one to force them to commit a crime.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "TheWrap",
        "title": "‘The Runner’ Review: Gal Gadot’s Amazon Original Thriller Has the Runs",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/the-runner-review-gal-gadots-amazon-original-thriller-has-the-runs",
        "published": "2026-09-02T04:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}