Gal Gadot’s New Thriller ‘The Runner’ Is Getting Destroyed by Critics, and Still Dominating Prime Video
Gal Gadot has found herself in a familiar situation. Her latest movie, The Runner, is getting hammered by critics, but viewers are still showing up in huge numbers. The new thriller has quickly climbed to the top of Prime Video’s global movie chart, proving once again that a bad Rotten Tomatoes score does not always mean people will stay away from a streaming release.
The film arrived on Prime Video on September 2 and wasted little time finding an audience. According to FlixPatrol, The Runner became the number one movie on the service in 38 countries only two days after its release. It has also continued appearing near the top of the charts across more than 50 territories. That is a strong start for a movie that critics have been far less kind to.
The Runner stars Gadot as Maia Marten, a London prosecutor whose life suddenly turns into a nightmare. Her son is kidnapped, and she is forced to follow a series of orders from a mysterious person on the phone. The movie takes place in real time, with Maia racing around London as she tries to do what she is told and save her child. At only 84 minutes, it is also the kind of movie viewers can finish quickly without making a huge time commitment.
That short runtime and simple setup may be part of the reason the movie is doing so well. While critics have questioned the story and the way its events unfold, the basic idea is easy to understand. A mother has to run across a city, follow dangerous instructions and try to rescue her kidnapped son. For streaming viewers looking for something fast and intense, that can be enough to get them to press play.
The reviews, however, have been extremely rough. Rotten Tomatoes has recorded only a small number of positive reviews out of roughly 35, leaving the movie with a critics score in the single digits. That makes The Runner one of the worst-reviewed films of Gadot’s career. Critics have mainly attacked the story, pacing and logic behind the kidnapping plot, with several reviews arguing that the movie becomes harder to believe as it continues.
Interestingly, the audience reaction has not been quite as harsh, although it has also not been overwhelmingly positive. That makes the movie’s success even more interesting. People are clearly watching it despite the reviews, rather than simply rushing to see a film that everyone agrees is great.
Gadot has already experienced something similar with some of her biggest streaming movies. Her 2021 Netflix action comedy Red Notice was not loved by critics and currently has a 36% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet the movie became a huge streaming success and remained Netflix’s most-watched original film for years. Her later Netflix movie Heart of Stone received another poor critical response but still attracted close to 110 million views.
That history makes The Runner’s success less surprising. Gadot remains a familiar face for millions of viewers, thanks in large part to her time as Wonder Woman. Even when a movie receives terrible reviews, her name can still be enough to make people curious. Once viewers see a short thriller sitting at the top of Prime Video, many may decide to watch it themselves and make up their own minds.
The movie also had a complicated road to the screen. According to reports, filming took place in London during the spring of 2025 and faced several disruptions involving protesters. Eight people were reportedly arrested during incidents in April and May. Despite those problems, production continued and the finished movie eventually reached Prime Video this September.
For now, The Runner is another interesting example of the gap between critics and streaming audiences. A movie can be called one of the worst-reviewed films of a major star’s career and still become the biggest movie on a major streaming service. FlixPatrol’s chart data shows just how quickly Gadot’s latest thriller caught on around the world, while the Rotten Tomatoes numbers tell a very different story about what people think of the film itself.
The real test will be whether The Runner can stay near the top after its first week. For the moment, though, Gadot has another streaming hit on her hands. The reviews may be brutal, but audiences clearly have not been scared away.
Would you watch The Runner after seeing its terrible reviews?
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