Time Loops, AI, and Human Stupidity

Read Time:5 Minute, 23 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
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Genre: Action, Comedy, Science Fiction
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 2h 14m
Director(s): Gore Verbinski
Writer(s): Matthew Robinson
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Juno Temple
Where to Watch: exclusively in theaters February 13, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: What do you do when the world feels on edge, and every new technological promise sounds like a threat dressed up as convenience? GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE doesn’t offer comfort, clarity, or solutions. Instead, Gore Verbinski returns to filmmaking by throwing gasoline on that anxiety and daring the audience to keep up. This is a loud, restless, deliberately overstuffed movie that treats chaos as both subject and method, and it never pretends otherwise. Everything you think you know about this film is wrong, and ultimately, in the best way possible.

A man storms into a Los Angeles diner claiming to be from the future, armed with a detonator, a righteous sense of urgency, and a very specific demand. He needs a group of strangers, none of whom seem remotely qualified, to help stop an impending catastrophe driven by artificial intelligence and social collapse. From there, the film barely pauses for breath. What unfolds is a time-looped, genre-scrambling sprint that blends action, satire, paranoia, and moral exhaustion into something that feels both wildly entertaining and faintly unhinged.

Sam Rockwell’s performance is the glue that keeps the whole thing from derailing. He plays the Man From the Future with a manic intensity that never tips into a complete joke, even when the script absolutely invites it. There’s desperation baked into every gesture, a sense that this character has lived this night too many times and knows exactly how badly it can go wrong. Rockwell’s ability to fluctuate between menace, humor, and genuine sorrow gives the film a surprisingly human core beneath the noise.

The ensemble around him is equally important, and Verbinski allows each character space to be more than a punchline. Haley Lu Richardson brings a grounded intelligence that anchors several of the film’s wilder moments. Michael Peña offers weariness and skepticism that slowly erode into reluctant participation. Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple add contrasting shades of defiance and vulnerability, while Asim Chaudhry provides comedy that cuts through the film’s darker impulses without deflating them. The group dynamic feels chaotic but intentional, less a collection of quirks than a cross-section of modern disillusionment.

Verbinski’s direction is maximalist in the way only a filmmaker with nothing left to prove can afford to be. The film moves aggressively, piling ideas on top of each other, often refusing to let one land before charging into the next. That approach mirrors the movie’s obsession with overstimulation, information overload, and the sense that humanity is constantly reacting rather than reflecting.

Artificial intelligence isn’t framed here as a clear villainous entity so much as an extension of human impulse, greed, and attention-seeking behavior. The film’s satire cuts hardest when it connects the collapse to social media, outrage cycles, and the reward structures that encourage our worst instincts. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE doesn’t argue that machines will destroy us because they’re evil. It suggests they’ll kill us because they’re built in our image.

That said, the film’s ambition sometimes works against it. At over two hours, there are stretches where the momentum starts to strain under the weight of repetition. The time-loop structure, while sound, occasionally feels like it’s hammering the same emotion without enough variation. Verbinski clearly wants the audience to feel exhausted, but there are moments where that exhaustion risks tipping into impatience rather than immersion.

The film’s refusal to smooth itself out is part of its identity. This isn’t a nice weekend crowd-pleaser or an elegantly packaged satire. It’s messy, confrontational, and unapologetically strange. Verbinski seems far more interested in provoking reaction than courting consensus, and that confidence goes a long way.

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE lands because of the depth of sincerity beneath the madness. For all its absurdity, there’s a genuine belief here that people matter, even when they’re flawed, scared, or just average. The idea that the fate of the world might hinge on the collective effort of misfits in a diner feels less like fantasy than commentary. It’s not saying these people are heroes.

This isn’t a film for viewers looking for restraint or elegance. It’s abrasive by design, overloaded with ideas, and often operating right at the edge of coherence. But it’s also alive in a way many traditional studio films aren’t. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE feels like the work of a filmmaker who missed the chaos of making movies and decided to lean into it completely. It’s uneven, exhausting, frequently exhilarating, and unmistakably personal. In a landscape full of safe bets and algorithm-approved content, that alone makes it worth paying attention to.

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