Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) has no idea her best friend Judith Barton (Hannah Waddingham) secretly works as a contract killer. When the truth suddenly comes out, the pair get caught up in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse across Europe.
Streaming on: Prime Video
Episodes viewed: 8 of 8
As the hunt for a new James Bond continues, Hannah Waddingham has made a solid case for widening the net beyond the usual suspects. Within the first hour of action-comedy series Ride Or Die, her character Judith proves herself more than capable of filling 007’s shoes, her high heels quickly swapped for Spy-Who-Loved Me-esque skis. That’s before you even consider the high-speed chase‚ or the high-speed way she celebrates a mission accomplished with some totty on the side. But the show’s creator Tessa Coates seems less concerned with making generic action than she is with exploring female friendship.
While there might have been a temptation to push Judith’s bestie into a hapless civilian role, it turns out Debbie (Octavia Spencer) is actually the stronger half of this particular double-act, emotionally speaking at least. Underestimate her at your peril, because Spencer’s character is just as capable as Waddingham’s highly trained assassin. As it turns out, it’s not the action that pulls you in so much as the chemistry between the two leads. With actors as accomplished and as charismatic as Waddingham and Spencer, it feels entirely plausible that this pair have been friends for 20 years, which becomes key when obstacles threaten to derail that connection.
Inevitably, Thelma & Louise comparisons come to mind when watching this show — telling, perhaps, because there simply haven’t been enough on-screen female pairings in this vein. The adventure that Judith and Debbie take certainly impresses more than recent big-screen alternatives like The Heat or The Spy Who Dumped Me, yet it’s hard not to imagine how much better the series might have been had the story been condensed into a feature-length runtime. Supporting actors like Ed Skrein, Bill Nighy and Sylvia Hoeks — who each play unhinged killers — add character to this world, but their involvement also piles on more subplots, resulting in a show that feels overstuffed, rather than the slick spy caper it clearly wants to be.
Ride Or Die isn’t quite the action vehicle Waddingham and Spencer deserve, but they both excel regardless, hitting the thrills and comedic beats with formidable and charismatic tenacity.
