The Hollywood Reporter reviews "Runner," a new action-thriller from Angel Studios starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson as a mismatched pair racing to deliver a life-saving organ transplant while pursued by a violent drug cartel. Directed by Scott Waugh, the film marks a notably grittier turn for Angel Studios and delivers energetic, well-staged action, but the reviewer finds its shift between broad comedy and graphic violence jarring, leaving a "bad taste" despite strong lead performances.

Ritchson plays Hank, a recovering, trauma-scarred former Navy SEAL working as a courier in Australia, who is unexpectedly paired with Wilson's fast-talking medical courier Ben to transport a donor liver, worth up to $1 million on the black market, to a dying seven-year-old girl within a three-hour window. Their journey is repeatedly interrupted by a tattooed gang led by Rodrigo Santoro's Damien, triggering relentless, gory set pieces that the reviewer says clash uncomfortably with the film's comic beats, though Ritchson and Wilson's chemistry, the emotionally layered script, and scenic Brisbane and Gold Coast locations are highlighted as strengths.