Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
“Seeing underrepresented characters in a zany B-movie like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a welcome sight.”
Title: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026)
Director: Gore Verbinski 👨🏼🇺🇸
Writer: Matthew Robinson 👨🏼🇺🇸
Reviewed by Gavin 👨🏼🇬🇧🌈♿
—SPOILERS AHEAD—
Technical: 4/5
American filmmaker Gore Verbinski, who saw wild success with his Pirates of the Caribbean movies (he directed the first three), is arguably still an underappreciated artist. Most of his films end up as box office bombs, critical flops, or both. But his latest, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, has all the ingredients of a great Verbinski film: funny, action-paced, and full of heart. Let’s hope audiences take a shine this time around.
A time-loop comedy, self-proclaimed “Man From the Future” (Sam Rockwell) arrives in a Los Angeles diner to recruit a team for a mission. The objective: Prevent the future dystopia that the eccentric man comes from. But every attempt has failed thus far. On this night, however, there’s a sliver of hope as the ensemble progresses further than in previous loops.
The unpredictable narrative and lo-fi aesthetic make Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die so much, well, fun. Through flashbacks of certain members of the rag-tag team, we dive into their personal lives and discover details that reveal how nothing is what it seems. Absurd plot developments come rapid-fire, and some bonkers visuals and beats are a thrill to witness. The kinetic direction makes the WTF moments even more entertaining. The camera is always doing something interesting, and Verbinski knows how to keep viewers glued to the screen.
Gender: 4/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE
Making up the motley crew are plucky teachers Mark (Michael Peña) and Janet (Zazie Beetz), grieving mum Susan (Juno Temple), depressed millennial Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson), an uptight Scout Leader (Daniel Barnett), and a pair of comic relief characters (Asim Chaudhry and Georgia Goodman). While led by the Man From the Future, Good Luck’s gender-balanced supporting cast is notable.
Flashback sequences give us insights into characters like the Man From the Future and Mark, but also Susan and Ingrid. Susan’s story brazenly explores school shootings in America, the effects of a mother losing a child, and the “solutions” companies offer that do not even attempt to fix the root problem. Ingrid’s flashback reveals her literal allergy to technology and her rebellion against a world consumed by AI and tech addiction. Both women become integral to the film. Ingrid is inspiring by choosing autonomy over conformity, and Susan’s bewilderment as the plot becomes increasingly bizarre is such a blast that it nearly overshadows the fact her story is tied to her son. The women of Good Luck stand out as the film’s dramatic and comedic heart.
Race: 3/5
Good Luck has a racially diverse cast. Within the core group, there’s Peña (Mexican American), Beetz (biracial Black and White), Chaudhry (British South Asian), and Goodman (British and multiracial). Unfortunately, their character arcs leave much to be desired.
Goodman’s character has a couple of comedic moments, but she is brutally killed off early on to raise the stakes for others. Another character of colour, played by Chaudhry, is also killed off to a menacing line from the Man From the Future: “He was never gonna make it.” Mark and Janet have decent screen time in the first act, but are eventually sidelined in favor of white women who dominate the narrative. The couple even makes a “sacrifice” for the white leads.
Whilst clearly not malicious, Good Luck inadvertently turns characters of colour into tools for the white characters and their stories. Further, Mark’s flashback leans more towards plot than emotion, whereas Susan and Ingrid have fully fleshed out sections that involve both. People of colour are part of the shenanigans, both in leading and background roles, but they deserve to be more involved, like their white counterparts.
Mediaversity Grade: B- 3.67/5
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die has good intentions. With two white men behind the script and direction, the zany midnight movie boasts a racially diverse and gender-balanced cast. The depth isn’t there, but seeing underrepresented characters in a tongue-in-cheek B-movie is a welcome sight.
Like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die? Try these other titles with wacky, chaotic energy.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
The Substance (2024)