Ride or Die review: Hannah Waddingham, Octavia Spencer elevate this spy caper
Ride or Die follows Debbie as she learns her closest friend Judith is an assassin. The series, starring Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spence, uses their long friendship to give its spy chaos an emotional centre.
The first rule of any good spy thriller is simple: trust no one. Ride or Die tweaks that formula by asking a far more entertaining question: what if the one person you’ve trusted for 20 years turns out to be an assassin?
That reveal fuels Prime Video’s breezy new action-comedy, but beneath the bullets, car chases and international conspiracies sits something far less common in the genre: a friendship that actually feels lived in. Ride or Die isn’t trying to reinvent the spy caper. It’s more interested in watching two middle-aged women discover whether honesty can survive after decades of lies.
Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) thinks she knows her best friend Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) inside out. They’ve shared birthdays, heartbreaks and the sort of easy companionship that only comes with time. Then Judith casually reveals that she’s been working as a contract killer all along. One botched assignment later, Debbie finds herself dragged into a globetrotting conspiracy involving corrupt officials, dangerous mercenaries and people who would quite like both women dead.
Ridiculous? Absolutely. But Ride or Die has the good sense not to apologise for it.
The series understands that its espionage plot exists largely as an excuse to throw its leads into increasingly impossible situations. The real story lies in watching Debbie process the fact that the person she knows best is also the person she knows least.
Hannah Waddingham looks completely at home in the role. Judith is elegant, intimidating and effortlessly capable, but Waddingham never lets her become emotionally untouchable. There is loneliness beneath the confidence and guilt beneath the wit, making Judith far more interesting than another slick action hero with impeccable aim.
Octavia Spencer gives the show its emotional centre. Debbie reacts to every absurd revelation exactly as a normal person would—with disbelief, frustration and the occasional urge to walk away. Spencer resists turning her into comic relief. Instead, she plays Debbie as someone whose world has quietly shifted beneath her feet, and the performance grounds even the show’s most outlandish moments.
Together, the two actors do what many action-comedies struggle to achieve: they convince you that the relationship matters more than the mission.
That chemistry also keeps the humour from becoming too broad. Much of it comes not from punchlines but from familiarity—old friends finishing each other’s sentences, arguing over impossible situations and discovering that betrayal doesn’t necessarily erase affection.
The action is equally enjoyable without trying too hard to impress. Director Peyton Reed keeps things moving with enough style and momentum, while Europe provides a suitably glamorous backdrop for the chaos. Bill Nighy and Ed Skrein add flavour to the supporting cast, even if they’re never given enough to steal the spotlight.
Where Ride or Die loses some of its edge is in the plotting. Eight episodes occasionally stretch a premise that might have worked better with a tighter narrative. The conspiracy grows increasingly elaborate without becoming particularly more interesting, and by the latter half, the twists begin to feel like obligations of the genre rather than genuine surprises. The series occasionally mistakes movement for momentum.
There are also moments where the tonal balancing act wobbles. A heartfelt exchange is sometimes followed by a joke that lands a little too quickly, preventing the emotional beats from fully settling. The supporting characters, meanwhile, often function more as colourful obstacles than fully realised people.
Yet the show keeps finding its way back because Waddingham and Spencer never let it drift too far.
Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Ride or Die is that it never treats its leads’ age as either a novelty or a limitation. They aren’t trying to prove they belong in an action series. The show assumes they do, and simply lets them get on with it.
In a genre built on gadgets, aliases and impossible missions, Ride or Die stumbles onto something surprisingly old-fashioned. The best partnership here isn’t between spies. It’s between two friends learning that even the biggest secret doesn’t always have to be the end of the story.
All 8 episodes of Ride or Die are now available on Prime Video.
The first rule of any good spy thriller is simple: trust no one. Ride or Die tweaks that formula by asking a far more entertaining question: what if the one person you’ve trusted for 20 years turns out to be an assassin?
That reveal fuels Prime Video’s breezy new action-comedy, but beneath the bullets, car chases and international conspiracies sits something far less common in the genre: a friendship that actually feels lived in. Ride or Die isn’t trying to reinvent the spy caper. It’s more interested in watching two middle-aged women discover whether honesty can survive after decades of lies.
Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) thinks she knows her best friend Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) inside out. They’ve shared birthdays, heartbreaks and the sort of easy companionship that only comes with time. Then Judith casually reveals that she’s been working as a contract killer all along. One botched assignment later, Debbie finds herself dragged into a globetrotting conspiracy involving corrupt officials, dangerous mercenaries and people who would quite like both women dead.
Ridiculous? Absolutely. But Ride or Die has the good sense not to apologise for it.
The series understands that its espionage plot exists largely as an excuse to throw its leads into increasingly impossible situations. The real story lies in watching Debbie process the fact that the person she knows best is also the person she knows least.
Hannah Waddingham looks completely at home in the role. Judith is elegant, intimidating and effortlessly capable, but Waddingham never lets her become emotionally untouchable. There is loneliness beneath the confidence and guilt beneath the wit, making Judith far more interesting than another slick action hero with impeccable aim.
Octavia Spencer gives the show its emotional centre. Debbie reacts to every absurd revelation exactly as a normal person would—with disbelief, frustration and the occasional urge to walk away. Spencer resists turning her into comic relief. Instead, she plays Debbie as someone whose world has quietly shifted beneath her feet, and the performance grounds even the show’s most outlandish moments.
Together, the two actors do what many action-comedies struggle to achieve: they convince you that the relationship matters more than the mission.
That chemistry also keeps the humour from becoming too broad. Much of it comes not from punchlines but from familiarity—old friends finishing each other’s sentences, arguing over impossible situations and discovering that betrayal doesn’t necessarily erase affection.
The action is equally enjoyable without trying too hard to impress. Director Peyton Reed keeps things moving with enough style and momentum, while Europe provides a suitably glamorous backdrop for the chaos. Bill Nighy and Ed Skrein add flavour to the supporting cast, even if they’re never given enough to steal the spotlight.
Where Ride or Die loses some of its edge is in the plotting. Eight episodes occasionally stretch a premise that might have worked better with a tighter narrative. The conspiracy grows increasingly elaborate without becoming particularly more interesting, and by the latter half, the twists begin to feel like obligations of the genre rather than genuine surprises. The series occasionally mistakes movement for momentum.
There are also moments where the tonal balancing act wobbles. A heartfelt exchange is sometimes followed by a joke that lands a little too quickly, preventing the emotional beats from fully settling. The supporting characters, meanwhile, often function more as colourful obstacles than fully realised people.
Yet the show keeps finding its way back because Waddingham and Spencer never let it drift too far.
Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Ride or Die is that it never treats its leads’ age as either a novelty or a limitation. They aren’t trying to prove they belong in an action series. The show assumes they do, and simply lets them get on with it.
In a genre built on gadgets, aliases and impossible missions, Ride or Die stumbles onto something surprisingly old-fashioned. The best partnership here isn’t between spies. It’s between two friends learning that even the biggest secret doesn’t always have to be the end of the story.
All 8 episodes of Ride or Die are now available on Prime Video.
