Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026) Review: Gore Verbinski’s Wild Sci-Fi Comeback

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Directed by: Gore Verbinski

Written by: Matthew Robinson

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Michael Peña, Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple

Release Date: February 13, 2026

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5)

After a Decade Away, Gore Verbinski Finally Looks Alive Again

It has been nearly a decade since we last saw Gore Verbinski behind the camera. His previous film, A Cure for Wellness (2016), quietly vanished, and before that came one of the most infamous career derailments of the 2010s: The Lone Ranger (2013).

That film—burdened with controversy, excess, and disastrous optics—left Verbinski radioactive in the studio system. To his credit, he stepped away. And with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, it feels like that time away may have saved him.

For the first time since Pirates of the Caribbean turned him into a blockbuster machine, Verbinski seems loose again—scrappy, playful, and creatively unburdened. This doesn’t feel like a film engineered by marketing departments and finance bros. It feels like a movie made by a director who remembers why he fell in love with cinema in the first place.

A Diner, a Time Traveler, and the End of Humanity

Sam Rockwell stars as a filthy, disheveled man who crashes into a late-night Los Angeles diner claiming to be from the future. Humanity, he says, is doomed. A child will soon create an A.I. that enslaves most of the world.

His solution?

Stop it before it happens.

Why this diner? According to him, history demands this exact combination of people to help him succeed.

He also admits he’s already tried this over 100 times—and every attempt ended in horrifying failure. But this time, he has a good feeling.

His new team includes:

• A married pair of teachers (Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña)

• A suicidal woman dressed as a party princess (Haley Lu Richardson)

• Susan (Juno Temple), a mother who received her son back after a school shooting

That last detail is as disturbing as it sounds—and I won’t spoil why it exists. Just know that it becomes the film’s darkest, funniest, and most unsettling subplot.

A Dystopia That Feels Uncomfortably Close

In Verbinski’s future, school shootings have become so common that a grotesque industry exists to “serve” grieving parents.

It’s horrifying.

It’s absurd.

And it’s uncomfortably on-point.

School shootings are never funny—but America’s numbness to them is. The film’s satire doesn’t mock tragedy; it exposes how normalized horror has become.

The Weak Spot (and Why It Still Works)

The teachers’ subplot is the film’s weakest. Peña’s substitute teacher dealing with phone-obsessed students sometimes veers into creaky “old man yells at kids” territory.

But Verbinski wisely ties this into the plot rather than letting it become a throwaway rant. It’s not just noise—it matters.

Haley Lu Richardson Is the Emotional Anchor

You’ll likely figure out Richardson’s role in the story early on—but stay with her. She brings sadness, fury, and a quiet resilience that grounds the film while the exposition swirls around her.

She keeps the movie human.

Sam Rockwell Holds the Whole Thing Together

The true center of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is Sam Rockwell.

He looks homeless.

He seems unwashed.

He radiates charisma.

Rockwell’s “man from the future” feels haunted by failure. His weariness is earned. His unpredictability keeps the film alive. And the way he slowly unites this ensemble—rather than dominating it—becomes the film’s emotional spine.

Watching him reach a moment he’s never reached before is genuinely thrilling. The ending doesn’t take the easy road, and it shouldn’t.

Final Thoughts: A Director Reborn

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a perfect title—playful, nihilistic, and weirdly sincere.

After years lost in studio excess, Gore Verbinski is finally back—having fun, taking risks, and telling stories that feel dangerous again.

I didn’t expect to be moved by this movie.

I didn’t expect to laugh this much.

But I’m overjoyed that I did.

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⭐ Final Rating

4 out of 5 stars

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#GoodLuckHaveFunDontDie #GoreVerbinski #SamRockwell #SciFiMovies #2026Movies #FilmReview #IndieSciFi #TimeTravelMovies #DarkComedy #VocalMedia #NewMovieReviews