GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE 🤩

THIS SC-FI COMEDIC THRILL RIDE IS 2026’S FIRST MUST-SEE MOVIE!

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE is the first great film of 2026. Sam Rockwell leads this original science fiction comedy directed by Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 1-3, THE RING, RANGO) and written by Matthew Robinson (LOVE AND MONSTERS). Drawing inspiration from BLACK MIRROR, GROUNDHOG DAY,  and THE MATRIX, GOOD LUCK launches the audience into a whirlwind adventure that starts at the fade-in and doesn’t let up until the very last second.  

I didn’t see a lot of the usual marketing for GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE, from Briarcliff Entertainment, an American indie production and distribution firm. Streaming spots didn’t follow me around Hulu or Peacock, and I didn’t see billboards for it all over Los Angeles. I can’t even recall whether I saw a trailer for it in cinemas, and I see a lot of movies in theatres. What I did experience was some promotions that offered film buffs a chance to see the movie early and for free throughout the opening weekend.  Early and free, and with the pleasure of going in completely blind, is exactly how I came to experience GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE. 

GOOD LUCK, has a lot to say about a very relevant topic: Artificial Intelligence. Gone are the days of wondering when a childlike robot that looks like Haley Joel Osment is going to show up at your door, replaced with fears about what AI is really bringing to humanity. Yes, it’s making some work processes more efficient and easier, and there is a lot of good that can be done with this type of machine learning. But we can’t deny the other side of things. AI is replacing humans at work, pushing out deepfakes and misinformation, and persuading sensitive people to rely on it as they would on a real-life friend, partner, or even a doctor. And it’s eating up natural resources far faster than they can regenerate. GOOD LUCK tackles some big questions: Is AI really going to be the end of humanity as we know it? And if it is, is it too late to change course?

I’ve talked about this before here at Spoiler Free Reviews, but I absolutely love original genre films and wish more of them had big theatrical releases. I’m not going to besmirch a great sequel or reboot, but true originals, especially across horror, fantasy, and science fiction, are the keys to my heart. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE blends adventure, mystery, and comedy perfectly with its sci-fi core. Robinson’s script is near perfect, and this might be my favorite thing Verbinski’s ever done. THE RING is still an all-time favorite of mine, while a recent rewatch of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL fell flat for me.  

Rockwell is one of the best and most underrated actors working today. As “the man from the future”, he’s faultless. No one else could play this role but Rockwell. And Rockwell couldn’t be his best self without a terrific supporting cast that includes Michael Peña and Zazie Beetz as a married couple who also work together as teachers, Juno Temple as a single mom who recently lost her young son, and Haley Lu Richardson as a mysterious young woman whose boyfriend just dumped her. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE brings everyone together one fateful night in a Los Angeles diner. 

It’s very rare for a film to keep up a frenetic pace from start to finish, but GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE manages this thanks to a tight script and direction, perfectly timed music drops, and Rockwell’s “future man” teasing out just enough exposition from scene to scene, so it never feels like we’re getting too much of an info dump at once. My biggest critique is that, even though GOOD LUCK runs as smoothly as the best roller coasters, it could still have shaved off about 15 minutes. With a running time of 134 minutes, I think a 2-hour version would be even better. But make no mistake: at no time was I bored, not even tempted to take a restroom break. 

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE is a must-see in theatres kind of film. It’s currently playing in 1,600 theatres across the US, and if you live near one, EXPERIENCE it NOW so even more moviegoers can see this intelligent, high-stakes, and incredibly timely flick.