RUNNER (2026)

Genre: Action
Director: Scott Waugh
Cast: Alan Ritchson, Owen Wilson, Rodrigo Santoro, Leila George, Kate Box, Peta Sergeant, Cecilia Toussaint, Geraldine Hakewill, Goran D. Kleut, Scarlett Crabtree
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 24 September 2026

Synopsis: Runner follows Hank Malone, a high-end courier who has three hours to transport an organ to save a seven-year-old girl in need of an immediate transplant. The seemingly simple mission turns deadly when the leader of a notorious crime syndicate becomes hell-bent on claiming the organ. Along for the ride is Ben Bishop, the medical courier Hank is begrudgingly forced to transport and protect.

Movie Review:

It’s a surprise considering that Runner comes from faith-based Angel Studios, the same studio behind Sound of Freedom and Homestead. However, it’s an even bigger surprise that it is such an action-packed and violent movie, a far cry from their usual releases.

Fresh off his latest season of Reacher, Alan Ritchson plays Hank, an ex-Navy SEAL who now works as a runner, courier or transporter, if you like to call it that, in Brisbane, Australia. In short, his job is to deliver anything from a man to a parakeet to their destinations. Then one day, he is instructed by his boss, Iggy, to collect a package which turns out to be a liver for a dying little girl at a hospital on the Gold Coast. But the package comes with an organ escort in the form of Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson). Midway through their journey, the duo is intercepted by cartel boss Damián Zaldívar (Rodrigo Santoro), who wants the liver for his dying mother.

Runner is a formulaic buddy-action movie that boasts a simple premise and endless testosterone-fuelled action. Wilson is here to provide some funny banter and ad-lib his way through the movie, while Ritchson, of course, gets to showcase his muscles. His character does have a somewhat tragic backstory involving a drunken past and a young daughter he lost, whom he still deeply misses, but the film never really does much with it.

Stunt coordinator-turned-director Scott Waugh (Hidden Strike, Expend4bles) isn’t exactly known for his subtle approach. His job here is to deliver countless car chases, brutal punches and bloodied gunshots, and of course, he does just that, even if the entire fiasco doesn’t make much sense. You want to know why? Because Damián Zaldívar kills a bunch of people, including a cop, and somehow the authorities barely bat an eyelid. That leaves our dear Hank to do the Reacher routine of kicking and beating everyone’s asses until the credits roll. To some, maybe that’s not such a bad deal after all.

To Ritchson’s credit, he actually has the range to play an emotionally complex and layered hero. It’s just that the script here doesn’t allow him to do much beyond flexing his muscles and throwing punches. Perhaps he needs a better writer and director to step in. For Runner, at least he makes a respectable pairing with Wilson, who displays a decent amount of chemistry with his co-star. Wilson’s career has been on the slow side in recent times, and unfortunately, Runner isn’t going to change any of that.

Runner isn’t going to be remembered down the road as a fantastic action movie, despite its ticking-clock scenario. Sure, it boasts a couple of decent fight and action sequences, but this genre is slowly being consumed by streaming platforms. Unless more effort is put into the story and choreography, audiences are not likely to flock to Runner on the big screen.

Movie Rating:

(A great addition for Reacher fans, but probably a miss for everyone else)

Review by Linus Tee