--- title: "Run Lola Run: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/run-lola-run/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/run-lola-run" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 12 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." --- # Run Lola Run (1998): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 12 reviews: 10 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics warm to Run Lola Run, and the praise clusters in one place: its energy. Reviewers describe a film that runs three variations on the same twenty minutes and never stops moving, and they credit Tykwer’s editing, the camera loops and the techno score for keeping it going. Franka Potente’s performance is singled out again and again, several critics noting that the film keeps its sympathy for Lola even when the style threatens to swamp her. A few also find something under the noise: chance, fate and how small changes ripple outward. The reservations concern what all that motion is for. Time Out calls the film shallow and contrived, though it likes Potente, and The Guardian goes further, comparing it to a pop video whose three storylines undermine one another. The spread is otherwise narrow; the lone outright dissent sits well below a largely admiring field, and even the mixed notices concede the ingenuity of the structure. ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 June 1999. The critic calls the film a hyperkinetic pop culture firecracker that celebrates the playful inventiveness of cinema itself, praising its tireless energy, addictive techno score, and the way small changes ripple through the story. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-18-ca-47614-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 1999. The critic praises the film's inventive style and energy as it tells three variations of Lola's desperate 20-minute run to save her boyfriend, noting its focus on how small changes affect outcomes and its playful cinematic tricks. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/run-lola-run-1999) ## Variety — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 1998. Festival review. The review lauds the film's breathless race-against-the-clock structure with multiple variations on the story, its rich humor, rhythm, energy and inventiveness, and the strong central performance by Franka Potente. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/run-lola-run-1200455205/) ## Empire — Caroline Westbrook Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic praises the film's frenetic portmanteau structure, techno soundtrack and stylish energy as a rare foreign-language action picture that appeals to both multiplex and arthouse audiences. It singles out the sympathetic characters and inventive editing for making viewers root for the leads despite minimal dialogue. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/run-lola-run-review/) ## Sight and Sound — Richard Falcon Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). Tykwer's supercharged, hyperactive film sets new standards for the cinema of hysteria with its chaos-theory plotting and mixed-media techniques. The critic praises the empathy maintained with Lola across three timelines despite the stylised pop-video aesthetics and techno score. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/245) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 2003. The critic praises Tykwer’s breakthrough as an adrenalized, playful concept film laced with philosophical depth. The heroine’s ferocious runs through Berlin and the film’s compassion amid chance encounters stand out as gripping elements that make fate feel conquerable. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/run-lola-run/) ## The AV Club — Jarrod Jones Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 June 2024. The critic finds the film an energetic and soulful example of the branching-path narrative structure that remains the most electric in its genre. Tykwer is praised for achieving propulsion through athleticism, editing tricks, and visual eclecticism without bogging down in exposition. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/as-a-multiverse-melodrama-run-lola-run-was-ahead-of-it-1851544381) ## The New York Times — Laura Winters Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 June 1999. The article highlights the film's anarchic energy and popularity in Germany, describing Lola's frantic race through Berlin and the director's use of innovative techniques that transcend language. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/13/movies/film-a-rebel-with-red-hair-rumples-stuffed-shirts.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The plotting of three rescue scenarios is ingeniously modern and the visual techniques make a simple story slick entertainment aimed at youth. The critic notes it is shallow, contrived and implausible, though Potente's spirited performance stands out. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/run-lola-run) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 22 October 1999. Bradshaw describes the film as three variations on Lola racing through Berlin to save her boyfriend, praising Tykwer's fluent direction and trademark camera loops but criticizing it as resembling a pop video with contrived storylines that undermine each other. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,4267,94485,00.html) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The critic praises the film's energy and exuberance, which overcomes any doubts about trite content through its pop-video style, sexy soundtrack and the determined heroine racing to save her boyfriend. Tykwer's instinctive, adrenaline-fueled direction and the athletic lead performance stand out as highlights. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/run-lola-run-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Collider — Jeffrey Speicher Rating 7/10. 9 June 2024. The critic praises the film's turbo-charged thriller elements combined with deep existential questions about determinism and free will. The innovative video game-like structure, editing, and direction are highlighted as groundbreaking for its time. [Read the review](https://collider.com/run-lola-run-review/) --- © 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/run-lola-run.md