People sometimes like to gripe that there are no new ideas any more, especially when it comes to movie pitches, and while I think there's plenty out there to disprove that, the big streamers do have a certain predilection for familiar plots. I'm not trying to do The Runner down before it even has a chance, but watch its trailer (released this week) and you'll probably get where I'm coming from.
The film will hit Prime Video on 2 September, starring Gal Gadot as Maia, a successful lawyer gearing up for a massive day in court. She's going to have a wildly unexpected time, though, thanks largely to a remote kidnapper played by Damian Lewis, who's going to be dictating her actions with terrible threats.
Maia's a single mum, and she starts her day by dropping her son Dylan at school, before heading out on her morning run to clear her mind. She doesn't make it home, though, because midway around her route she gets a call from Dylan's phone. It's Lewis' mysterious criminal, informing her that he's got Dylan and the only way to get him back safely is to follow instructions.
Those instructions? They appear to involve Maia heading into the centre of London to pick up a weapon, then making her way to a hotel where the witness she's about to use in a major legal case is staying. She has to kill that witness or lose her son, according to the kidnapper, and that's quite the quandary to be shoved into.
It's fairly obvious from the trailer that Maia will do her best to avoid complying, but she'll also face nightmarish complications including having her (folding) phone stolen at one point. The voice-over from Lewis is slightly interesting for how clear and studio-recorded it sounds, but perhaps that'll feel different in the final film.
I'm mostly struck by the similarities to Run Lola Run, another movie about a woman having to run around a city at the behest of criminals, but if The Runner can get close to that film's cult following it'll be doing exceptionally well. We'll know more in early September when it gets added to the Prime Video library.
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