---
title: "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die"
critics_score: 68
critics_reviews: 19
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026): what the critics said

Critics' score 68 from 19 reviews: 14 positive, 2 mixed, 3 negative.

Most critics like it, with fourteen positive notices against three negative. The praise gathers around Gore Verbinski’s return: the reviews describe the film as audacious, raucous and full of ideas, a science fiction comedy about a time-loop mission to stop a rogue AI that moves with real energy even when it does not hold together. Sam Rockwell’s manic lead performance is the element singled out most often, and several reviews also pick out the Black Mirror-style vignettes, Juno Temple’s cloning storyline in particular.

The reservations are about shape. Even admiring critics find it overstuffed, the flashbacks cumbersome and the final act confusing or overlong, and a few note dated gags and poor CGI. The spread is wide. The Times finds it dull as well as unhinged, Little White Lies calls the satire hacky and Time Out says it has nothing new to say about life online. Screen Daily, more moderately, misses a human element beneath the glibness.

## The Telegraph

Fi1m's normalised score 88/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2026. 

The critic calls the film a riotous and blood-curdlingly timely science fiction satire about humanity’s last stand against AI, praising its grippingly unpredictable energy and sharp observations on tech’s absurd yet grim effects.

[Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2026/02/19/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Justin Clark

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2026. 

The critic praises the film as a fun techno-horror wake-up call that effectively mixes awkward humor with surrealist technological horror, likening it to a 21st-century Bosch painting and highlighting Verbinski’s confident control and bizarre ambition.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-sam-rockwell-gore-verbinski/)

## Radio Times — Rosie Fletcher

Rating 4/5. 19 February 2026. 

The critic calls the film audacious, fresh and a massive amount of fun despite a confusing final act, praising its clever, unpretentious energy and wild originality. It singles out the strong Black Mirror-style vignettes, especially Juno Temple’s troubling yet funny cloning storyline.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review/)

## RogerEbert.com — Brian Tallerico

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 13 February 2026. 

The film is a playful, sharp action-comedy that spins AI concerns into timely entertainment with creative spark and energetic direction, though its structure can feel haphazard. It warns about technology's dangers while celebrating the cast, especially Sam Rockwell's charismatic lead performance.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-sam-rockwell-film-review-2026)

## The Guardian

Fi1m's normalised score 77/100 (inferred from the text). 12 February 2026. 

The critic finds fun to be had in Verbinski’s satisfyingly tech-fearing sci-fi comedy adventure but notes it is lively yet overstuffed and could use more restraint. The human mess of the film and standout performances, particularly from Haley Lu Richardson, are singled out positively amid the excess.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/12/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-movie-review)

## Los Angeles Times — Amy Nicholson

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 12 February 2026. 

Verbinski’s maniacal farce is a sly sci-fi satire about stopping a tech-pocalypse, with an intricate, angry, and ambitious script that feels like a feat to get made. It explores how the internet’s promise has soured through flashbacks and mean observations on digital life.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-02-12/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-sam-rockwell-haley-lu-richardson-michael-pena-gore-verbinski)

## Financial Times — Danny Leigh

Rating ★★★☆☆. 19 February 2026. 

The critic describes a rowdy sci-fi caper in which Verbinski shares anxiety about AI before mapping salvation, noting it is more curious than it sounds with Black Mirror-lite vignettes indicting tech-addled times.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/44b45671-8afc-4eec-aa36-7090efceabc3)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 74/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2026. 

The critic finds the film a reasonably entertaining gonzo sci-fi comedy thanks to its appealing cast and Verbinski’s kinetic action set pieces, but notes it falls short of its title’s sardonic promise due to an only occasionally funny or fresh script and an indulgent runtime.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-sam-rockwell-1236495659/)

## Sight and Sound

Fi1m's normalised score 71/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2026. 

The critic finds the film a fun tech-paranoia caper that empathizes with frustration over AI dominance but notes many dated gags and clichés. It praises the satirical bite in the characters' backstories while acknowledging the mix of shrewd observation and outmoded humour.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-ai-comedy-with-just-enough-satirical-bite)

## Empire — Helen O’Hara

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2026. 

The critic finds the film messy and madcap but ultimately entertaining, with fun amid the mayhem in this time-travel AI-apocalypse story. They single out Sam Rockwell’s immensely fun, manic performance as the standout element.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die/)

## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 February 2026. 

Gore Verbinski returns with a weird, wild dystopian sci-fi about repeatedly trying to stop a rogue AI, full of ideas and ready to explode at any moment. The story centers on a time traveler assembling a team in a diner to prevent humanity's doom.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/movies/review-good-luck-have-fun-dont-die.html)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 6 October 2025. Festival review. 

Verbinski makes a raucous comeback with an irreverent, wildly inventive sci-fi comedy about a time-loop mission to curb AI, led by Sam Rockwell’s wild-eyed performance. The script is hyper-referential and satirical but can’t decide if society should be saved or scolded.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-sam-rockwell-1236534609/)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 54/100 (inferred from the text). 3 February 2026. Festival review. 

The critic describes an audacious, irreverent action-satire that taps into tech anxieties but proves too glib and nihilistic in execution. It singles out the lack of a sufficient human element and notes the film may find cult status rather than mainstream success.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-sam-rockwell-rages-against-the-machines-in-glib-gonzo-ai-satire/5213288.article)

## Little White Lies — Esther Rosenfield

Rating 4/2/1. 12 February 2026. 

The critic calls the film a disappointing slog and gobsmackingly bad, with hacky, dated satirical broadsides against technology that feel like rejected Black Mirror episodes. It singles out one moderately original cloning concept but faults the overall narrative collapse, hideous CGI and relentless nonsense.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die)

## The Times — Kevin Maher

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2026. 

The critic finds the AI-focused apocalypse comedy from Gore Verbinski both unhinged and dull, noting it starts promisingly with Sam Rockwell but becomes unwieldy due to cumbersome flashbacks and an anticlimactic confrontation.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-film-review-cjv5v09b3)

## Time Out — Stephen A Russell

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 13 February 2026. 

The critic finds the film a sci-fi snooze with nothing new to say about online times, calling the screenplay sloppy and AI-like with leaden exposition and bad CGI. It singles out the failure to deliver on its potential as searing commentary, resulting in a 404 error message instead.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-2026)

## /Film — Rafael Motamayor

Rating 8/10. 26 September 2025. Festival review. 

The critic calls it a bold, hilarious sci-fi adventure with a great cast and timely anti-AI commentary that starts like Repo Man and ends like Akira. They single out the absurdist humor blended with heart in its treatment of technology and school shootings for praise, while noting it loses some steam in the metaphysical finale.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1979287/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review/)

## Den of Geek — David Crow

Rating 3 out of 5. 28 January 2026. 

The critic finds the film audacious and original in its dark satire on AI and modern ennui, but notes the humor is more mean than mirthful and the third act overstays its welcome; praises the subversion of time-loop tropes and Rockwell's performance.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-shocking-comedy-ai-school-shootings/)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 February 2026. 

The critic views the film as a welcome, ramshackle return for Verbinski that delivers a frequent blast of dark comedy and big ideas, even if not everything connects. They single out Sam Rockwell's charismatic, unhinged lead performance as essential to sustaining the off-kilter energy amid the chaos.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/reviews/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review-gore-verbinski/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die.md