SHELTER (2026)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Cast: Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Harriet Walter, Bryan Vigier
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 17 February 2026

Synopsis: A recluse on a remote Scottish island rescues a girl from the sea, unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on his home, compelling him to face his turbulent history.

Movie Review:

At this point, it’s quite unimaginable for Jason Statham not to appear as a superhero character in a Marvel or DC movie, considering his screen credits read like an ancient kung fu manual. Sacrilegious, isn’t it?

In Ric Roman Waugh’s second directorial feature of the year (after Greenland 2) and yes, not forgetting it’s only February. Statham stars as Michael Mason, a former elite government assassin now holed up in an abandoned lighthouse on an island off Scotland. His only point of contact is a former associate and her niece, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), who supplies Mason with necessities.

When a storm hits, the supply boat capsizes and Jessie is injured. Mason is forced to head to the mainland for antibiotics. His image is captured by MI6, who mistakenly identify him as a terrorist. In reality, it’s his former boss, Manafort (Bill Nighy), who wants him dead and is the very reason Mason has been in hiding all these years.

Shelter is none other than Statham’s movie event of the year, although the English actor can sometimes be generous enough to serve up more than one actioner within a calendar year. With the exception of The Meg series, where he played a rescue diver, it’s comforting to say that in Shelter, he’s back to playing his usual type: an ex-operative, an assassin of sorts living in recluse who reluctantly returns to kick ass.

Director Waugh and writer Ward Parry know exactly what audiences expect from a Statham flick, so they try their best to squeeze in some emotion and develop the surrogate “father-and-daughter” relationship before the next shootout. Breathnach, who appeared in Hamnet as Susanna Shakespeare, plays the orphaned teenager to a tee — lost, frightened, but precocious at the same time. She’s much like Mei in Statham’s Safe, though the latter had a much busier plot compared to Shelter.

For the record, Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice, Mickey 17) appears as the new head of MI6, a role that unfortunately doesn’t require an ounce of her acting talent. All you really need to know is that you can always count on Mason to handsomely dispatch anyone whether in a nightclub, on a farm, or in a one-on-one showdown with a mercenary hired by Manafort. Waugh, a former stunt performer, knows exactly how to make Statham pull off every punch and kick with effortless ease and flair.

Michael Mason, in short, is a precision instrument, and Statham never disappoints in delivering another bone-cracking actioner. Of course, if you’re expecting a Jason Statham flick that surpasses his last few, you might have to wait for the next one which will probably arrive by summer.  

Movie Rating:

(A predictable Jason Statham flick that nevertheless entertains his fanbase)

Review by Linus Tee