Ride or Die

Starring certified national treasure Hannah Waddingham and sublime Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, new Amazon Prime series Ride or Die is a riotously comedic take on the secret agent thriller. The plot is reminiscent of other secret-assassin/spy romps like Mr and Mrs Smith or True Lies, and more recently, Role Play. In this instance, however, the hook is that it focuses on a female friendship turned upside down by an assassin revelation.

The series begins with a comedic subversion of the opening sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me. International assassin Judith Burton (Waddingham), aka Whiptail, ambushes an ostentatious oligarch shindig in the Austrian Alps. After slaying her target, she seduces a younger man she picks up from a bar. Wryly describing herself as an accountant, she declares, “I kill people for a living.”

Back in London, she enjoys cosy book nights with her bestie, Debbie Claybourne (Spencer), the mistreated wife of an MP confident he’s set to be the next Prime Minister. When Debbie finds out about Judith’s true profession after an unknown assassin targets her, the two end up on the run. At times, it’s incredibly exposition-heavy (the characters explain their life stories via narration), but it’s delivered with tongue firmly in cheek, and thus gets away with it.

Aside from the gender reversal, there’s nothing particularly new about this series, but it’s over-the-top, moreish fun. Already a camp icon, Waddingham turns the fabulosity up to eleven, descending a staircase in a skintight faux leather plunge dress and lamenting that she has to assassinate a hunk with sculpted abs. She is, quite simply, perfect for the role.

It’s not all frivolous, however. There are moments of genuine pathos, with creator and writer Tessa Coates using the subversive premise as a means to highlight the ill-treatment that both Judith and Debbie experience. At the behest of The Director (Bill Nighy), a younger male co-worker insinuates that Judith is experiencing a menopausal midlife crisis since she has officially reached the point of being a “WOACA” (woman of a certain age). Meanwhile, as one would expect from an actress of Spencer’s calibre, Debbie conveys the pain of a woman discarded once she reaches that aforementioned certain age.

Headed by two delightful actresses whose characters one can’t help but fall in love with, Ride or Die offers wink-and-a-nod high-octane action and girlboss espionage. It’s unashamedly silly, but thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

Antonia Georgiou

Ride or Die is released on Prime Video on 15^th July 2026.

Watch the trailer for Ride or Die here: