Resident Evil 2026 and Runner Share Medical Courier Plot Resident Evil (2026) and Alan Ritchson's Runner both feature a medical courier racing through a city, but the two films differ wildly in tone and execution. Zach Cregger's Resident Evil (2026) and Alan Ritchson's Runner share the same basic setup as films about a medical courier racing to deliver a package within a tight deadline, even though Runner arrived one week before the Resident Evil reboot. Both movies center on an everyman medical courier who must run through a hellish gauntlet to complete a delivery, and both take place over the span of just a few hours as their heroes race through a city toward a hospital where their final battles unfold. Resident Evil Reboot Becomes Box Office HitWhile the Resident Evil movie franchise starring Milla Jovovich was wildly successful, these over-the-top actioners left fans of the games wanting. The Resident Evil games are, for the most part, focused on horror and suspense, but the Jovovich saga was very much about delivering wild setpieces and action.Despite Zach Cregger's Resident Evil becoming a huge box office success and earning raves, it still proved controversial with the fanbase. A vocal section wanted the reboot to be a faithful adaptation of one of the classic games, whereas Cregger offers an original story set in the world of the games. Regardless, the movie has been an undeniable hit and will almost certainly receive a sequel.Zach Cregger's next movie will be the sci-fi epic The Flood.Runner and Resident Evil Share Courier PremiseSure, Runner is more of a straight-ahead action thriller, but aside from sharing the courier premise, the two films have a surprising amount in common. Both feature their protagonists at key turning points in their lives, where Resident Evil's Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, finds out he is about to become a father, while Alan Ritchson's Hank is learning to move on from a loved one's death.Of course, the similarities are broad, since Runner is a throwback to 1980s action movies, while Resident Evil is very much leaning into the survival horror tone of its video game source material. Even then, the latter still has plenty of laughs, as Bryan is a lovable loser of a protagonist who succeeds more through luck and determination than skill. Resident Evil and Runner both see the main characters reaching their end goals, though only one of them truly has a happy ending.Resident Evil is set entirely at night, while Runner takes place during the daytime.Different Tones Set the Two Films ApartRunner has had, fittingly enough, a run of bad luck, given that it also arrived one week after Prime Video's poorly reviewed The Runner, starring Gal Gadot. The fact that a film arrived the week after Ritchson's Runner with virtually the same hook is an exquisite piece of bad timing, especially as Resident Evil has outperformed it in just about every way possible.Still, Ritchson's actioner will certainly find a willing audience on VOD and streaming, and it is doing something very different to Zach Cregger's horror outing. Runner is set in Australia and is for the most part a colorful, pulpy action flick. Ritchson and Wilson make for a fun buddy duo, and it has some effectively crunchy action.The difference between it and Resident Evil is day and night, in that Runner is set entirely during the daytime while Cregger's offering is all at night. For all its humor, the movie has plenty of suspense and body horror, including a couple of moments where Bryan has to make some morally questionable choices. It could be argued Cregger's latest opus has a touch too much humor, which can undercut moments it should not.Even so, Resident Evil is a blast from beginning to end, and Bryan's night from hell rarely pauses once it kicks off. It is the better film than Runner, a film that makes for a nice way to kill time on a rainy Tuesday night, but it will evaporate from memory once Wednesday morning dawns.In Resident Evil, a medical courier heads to Raccoon City General Hospital for what should be an ordinary delivery. His mission turns dangerous when an undead outbreak erupts and traps him in a terrifying night of chaos. Runner, meanwhile, follows a high-end courier who races against time to deliver a life-saving organ to a critically ill seven-year-old girl, but he and his reluctant partner must deal with a ruthless crime syndicate who also has their eyes on it. Runner has a runtime of 97 minutes and a PG-13 rating, released on September 11, 2026.