Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

When a movie can keep me guessing, doesn't do what I think it's going to, and manages to completely entertain me, I can be all in. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is its own beast and will take you on an adventure that you aren't expecting, even up to the ending (is it an ending?). This is just a thoroughly good time, despite having some extremely profound themes and some dark twists, the film manages to remain optimistic in spite of...*gestures everywhere* It is a bleak film about how horrible humanity and the world is that is extremely funny and down right hopeful. Verbinski has pulled off a little miracle with this film. 

If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say it has Everything Everywhere All At Once Vibes, but it's a completely different experience. What it shares with that film is a high concept, mind bending plot devices, and an unpredictability that makes watching it a joy (I mean for those of us who don't want to feel safe watching a story pretty much knowing what is going to happen next). But the ideas its explores, its tone, and its point of view are completely different. It's the sort of film I would normally say "just go see it knowing as little as possible about it." Then after you see it you'll want to see it again to make more sense of it... or less. 

This cast rocks. Rockwell is always a joy in pretty much every movie he's in and Temple plays against type in surprisingly rewarding ways. I could go through everyone cause they each earn their keep but for it was Richardson, who I think truly shines here. Many are saying that this is a return to form for director Verbinbski but my hot take is that this film maker has shown a lot of potential but never really made a film I felt lived up to that potential... until now! This is pretty much the best thing he's ever done and he manages it with both style and restraint. The film, despite its wild swings, is grounded in a reality that gives it more pathos that you might expect. 

But the real star is writer Robinson who has dreamt up this nightmare and we are all lucky to get to go along for the ride. His ideas just keep tumbling out in the least predictable ways. Despite him foreshadowing so much, he always keeps us on our toes and rarely do we understand something before he needs us to. 

It isn't very often a film comes along that catches me off guard as much as this one does and I love it when it does!

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Juno Temple, Tom Taylor, Riccardo Drayton, Dino Fetscher, Anna Acton 

Director: Gore Verbinski

Writer: Matthew Robinson