Surprises are always a fun part of any film festival, let alone a genre fest like Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque, where any number of things could occur in the most extreme ways. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a new film from director Gore Verbinski, who hasn’t released a feature since 2016’s A Cure for Wellness, and I knew nothing about it. Despite this latest, finished effort being scheduled to release in January, it hasn’t yet gone through any real marketing channels. That’s why I was pretty excited to be among the first to see the first new movie in a while from a filmmaker I admire. I wish the results were a bit stronger, as I found plenty of shortcomings, most notably in the script and structure, which speaks to why this movie is not coming from a major studio. Still, seeing Verbinski tackle a darkly funny sci-fi flick focused on the self-imposed dangers of the future, and led by Sam Rockwell, is not the worst way to spend a Sunday night.
Rockwell stars as a man who claims to be from the future. An extended opening sequence finds him dressed in a ridiculous outfit that looks like someone said, “Turn my raincoat into a Terry Gilliam story,” and they were obliged. Complete with a scraggly beard and classic Rockwell irritability, the man walks into a Norms diner and announces to the 40-50 patrons inside that he is from the future and needs help. Some of the people present are destined (or predetermined) to help stop a rogue artificial intelligence from creating the dystopian world that he has transported back in time from. Is this man on the level? Will anyone forced to go along with him actually help? Why do some seem more willing to humor this man than others?
At its best, the script by Matthew Robinson feels acutely aware of the implications that come with any half-clever time travel story that wants to take in factors like predetermination vs. fate, branching timelines, and whatever else to suggest there’s much more than what meets the eye. Present at the screening, Verbinski playfully noted that he had no intention of answering certain questions with specificity, but acknowledged that game theory, numerology, and other studies certainly come into play when considering both the time travel elements and what the film is saying about AI. Of course, even as AI has been more frequently featured in the news as of late, it’s a subject plenty of films have been considering for decades, particularly in how the dark side of it could ostensibly destroy humanity if we’re not careful.
This is one area where Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die buckles under the weight of its premise. It feels like there’s a deeper conversation for some of these characters to be having, were they to want to really delve into alternate mental living arrangements, and the cost that comes with achieving some version of an ideal world. However, because this movie is also a scrappy adventure flick (focused on moving characters a few blocks in total), it becomes difficult to grasp some of the movie’s more interesting ideas when dealing with a variety of tonal shifts, let alone momentum changes based on the unconventional structuring of this feature.
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Backtracking to the initial premise, having Rockwell’s character recruiting various patrons to help him (and he’s supposedly tried over a hundred different combinations of people from this exact moment in time to get his plan to work) means introducing our supporting cast. We get a solid lineup that includes Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple. Additionally, the film takes three distinct breaks to fill in the backstory of some of these characters. In doing so, rather than taking rapid-fire notes to get the gist of why they are important, we essentially watch an assemblage of short films, reminiscent of Black Mirror, given the techno horrors each of these characters faces.
Nothing is inherently wrong with this, but for a film that is over two hours long and suffers from some pacing issues, it’s easy to see how taking such an exciting core story and breaking it up in this way can complicate matters. Not helping is how much trouble the movie still has in trying to get the audience to connect with all these people. Yes, when plot reasons necessitate connecting to specific individuals, there are elements and performances on hand to deliver. Otherwise, the cynical nature of Rockwell’s humor does too good a job of keeping us from feeling closer to hapless individuals, let alone appropriately responding to the stakes presented.
With so much time spent being clever and trying to look as visually polished as a lower-budget, non-major studio movie can, it’s at least worth noting that the effort on display is clear. Verbinski squeezes plenty out of what he has to work with to deliver a grimy yet slick-looking feature. He may not have the Pirates money supplied by Disney, but the filmmaker seems more than content on finding flashy ways to dive into the material at hand.
At the same time, the performances that matter most deliver. Rockwell is having a grand time leaning into the fun of a character who is not above stepping on everyone else’s toes to prove a point, grinning while doing it, yet also swerving into seriousness at a moment’s notice. Richardson and Temple both have plenty of dramatic weight to lean into with their stories, and do fine. I only wish Temple’s side could have found a better way to contend with the drastic situation she finds herself in. It speaks to a significant and very American situation regarding school shootings. Still, the movie can only do so much when trying to be humorous, call things into question via satire, and deliver an emotionally affected journey for a character.
While there’s not exactly much to spoil beyond just spelling out what happens, suffice it to say that without revealing where everything goes, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die does show plenty of potential for a nifty sci-fi flick that is relevant, exciting, and full of ideas to look into. That it lacks more focus, let alone the sort of polish that usually allows a proven filmmaker like Verbinski to shine within the studio system, makes it clear that resources were a bit more limited, despite the scope of a movie like this being as large as it is. Granted, that also means a film like this could become ripe for cult status down the line, especially helpful when knowing it’s not one of these hip movies that set out to claim that sort of designation. No, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die wants to impress as is, I’m just not sure it’s a most excellent adventure.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die opens in theaters on January 30, 2026.
Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque takes place from September 23 to October 8, 2025.
For the full lineup, tickets, and more information, check out the Website.
