Ride or Die Review
Director: Allison Liddi-Brown, DeMane Davis, Peyton Reed, and Lauren Wolkstein
Date Created: 2026-07-15 18:12
2.5
Ride or Die Review: Directed by Allison Liddi-Brown, DeMane Davis, Peyton Reed, and Lauren Wolkstein, the Prime Video thriller stars Hannah Waddingham as Judith, an elite assassin hiding behind the identity of a forensic accountant, and Octavia Spencer as Debbie, her unsuspecting best friend. The series also features Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker, Sylvia Hoeks, Bill Nighy and others. The show spread across eight episodes of roughly 55 minutes each.
Ride or Die Review
The Prime Video Series Ride or Die opens with the duality of Judith’s life as she experiences two distinct realities. To Debbie, she is merely the reliable friend who never skips book club and can always be there to offer a helping hand. In actuality, however, Judith is one of the most terrifying contract killers on the planet. Things become complicated when Judith fails her contract assignment at a charity gala, and the murder of Debbie’s husband, David, exposes Judith’s identity, and both friends have to flee from the country while investigating their mysterious attacker.
What ensues is an action-packed chase of killers, gangsters, and old foes, but not before it is made clear that the show values its friendship above all else. The one quality about which there was never any doubt throughout Prime Video’s Ride or Die is that Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer work exceptionally well as a team. Their friendship looks authentic rather than contrived. The way in which they poke fun at each other, complete each other’s sentences, and easily fall into comfortable routines makes it look like these two women have been friends for decades.
Long before Debbie learns the truth about Judith’s occupation, their chemistry makes even the most mundane scenes fascinating. As soon as the truth about Judith is revealed, the emotional drama shifts from murders to years of deception. The reason why Debbie is not shocked by Judith killing people but is horrified by it is that she felt betrayed by her best friend.
The better performance comes from Octavia Spencer. The character, Debbie, starts out as someone who is thoroughly lost and just trying to cope with the fact that she has gone through a divorce while being chased by people trying to kill her. Spencer never exaggerates any emotion. This allows Debbie to be depicted as an average woman caught in an extraordinary situation, which makes it easy for the audience to empathise with her. One of the only things in the show that actually pays off is seeing how Debbie manages to cope with Judith’s world.
Hannah Waddingham is equally natural in portraying Judith. She possesses all the right physical attributes of an assassin, making each battle scene seem natural and plausible without her appearing to work at becoming an action heroine. The best example of this occurs during the very beginning of the film, where Judith takes down her attacker even as she tries to keep a watchful eye on the tipsy Debbie. The scene defines Judith completely: deadly, calm, and always fixing other people’s problems. Waddingham is able to give Judith a dimension that the script does not always warrant.
Unfortunately, the Ride or Die series continues to trip over itself. It starts out with some great potential for an action thriller, but the pace doesn’t last long. Just when the intrigue of the story starts to get going, the characters take yet another break to chat about trust, friendship, or regret. Of course, emotional scenes can always work well, but because the show does this so much, the emotionality eventually becomes redundant. Debbie’s confrontation of Judith’s betrayal is great, but after a few episodes, the story seems to circle around this point without progress.
Pacing is the weakest aspect of the 2026 series Ride or Die. With eight episodes to work with, it feels way too drawn out considering the basic plot. Halfway through the series, all the tangents only make the overall mystery feel distant. Rather than creating an air of anticipation, it seems like the scenes could have been condensed. There are characters brought in that are integral to one particular episode, then never to be seen again, as well as subplots which fail to draw the viewer in enough.
The action itself is another hit-and-miss affair. It’s fun to watch Judith fight with her bare hands as Waddingham executes all the moves convincingly. But unfortunately, the larger action scenes fail to impress due to the lack of imagination in most of them. Car chases and escape scenes tend to be monotonous and sometimes depend on special effects for support, which takes away from their realism. This is a series about a top-notch assassin after all.
Sylvia Hoeks’ portrayal of Ana was certainly enjoyable. Without divulging any secrets about the plot, she is threatening enough that her presence cannot be predicted at all times. The character of Ana isn’t merely wicked; rather, enough information has been provided about the reasoning behind her actions to create a formidable adversary. More attention could have been paid to some of the other actors on the show, because apart from a few individuals, the rest have played roles only as plot devices.
Prime Video Ride or Die Review: Summing Up
Overall, the 2026 Ride or Die series gave me mixed feelings. While the show has two outstanding performances in leading roles, as well as a very genuine friendship to look forward to, the series fails to take full advantage of such a strong basis. The show’s pace just manages to suck away all the suspense; the action is never as good as expected, and the mystery doesn’t make one want to watch the whole eight episodes. The show was not unenjoyable at all, considering the outstanding lead actors who keep one interested in the story; however, the frequent feeling of being dragged along cannot be ignored.
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