---
title: "The Running Man"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-running-man"
fi1m_id: "the-running-man"
imdb_id: "tt14107334"
tmdb_id: 798645
wikidata_id: "Q125449414"
fi1m_score: 60
critics_score: 56
critics_reviews: 16
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:48.171129+00:00"
region: "US"
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."
---

# The Running Man (2025)

Directed by Edgar Wright · 2h 13m · MPA R · Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

## Identity

The Running Man

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-running-man
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-running-man
- **IMDb ID:** tt14107334
- **TMDB ID:** 798645
- **Wikidata ID:** Q125449414
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14107334/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/798645, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125449414

**Fi1m score: 60** · Critics 56 from 16 reviews

*In a sentence:* Colman Domingo hosts the end of the world and we would rather have watched his show

> Edgar Wright’s version of Stephen King’s novel is quick, handsome and well cast, and for an hour it is a good time. Then it starts repeating itself, the satire never gets under the skin, and the ending loses its nerve.

## Synopsis

In a near-future America run by a single Network, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is out of work and out of options, with a sick child at home and a wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), who wants him nowhere near the Network’s building. He goes anyway. *The Running Man* is the country’s most watched programme: stay alive for thirty days while a team of Hunters led by Evan McCone (Lee Pace) tracks you down, and the money is yours. Every viewer at home can phone in your whereabouts for cash. Bobby T. (Colman Domingo) hosts the show; Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) produces it. Ben signs the form, and the chase begins.

## Review

Edgar Wright has taken Stephen King’s 1982 novel and made the version the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film did not: closer to the book, poorer, angrier, with the hero’s family put back. Ben Richards (Glen Powell) cannot get work, his child is ill, and the only door still open is the Network’s, where the most watched programme in America pays a fortune to anyone who can stay alive for thirty days while being hunted. He signs the form. What follows is a fast, expensive chase film that is a pleasure for an hour and a chore by the end, and that keeps telling us what it means instead of letting us feel it.

Powell is cast against his grin, mostly to good effect. He plays Richards as a man permanently a second away from hitting someone, jaw set, eyes down, and when he does turn on the charm it reads as a tactic rather than a habit. Colman Domingo’s Bobby T., the host, is the film’s best piece of casting: he works a studio crowd like a preacher and a car salesman at once and appears to believe every word. Josh Brolin plays Dan Killian, the producer, in a low voice and a good suit and is scarier for never raising either. Lee Pace, as the lead Hunter Evan McCone, is given almost nothing to say and does a great deal of standing still.

Marcus Rowland’s production design puts this America somewhere between the decade King wrote the book in and next week: bulky television sets, cars with fins, hand-held screens that look built in a hurry and sold dear. Chung Chung-hoon shoots the poor districts in wet orange dark and the Network’s studios in a flat white glare with nowhere to hide, so the two halves of the country never share a colour. Julian Day dresses the people at home in layers and patches and the Network’s people in fabrics that shine. Steven Price’s score is thick synthesiser and drum machine, punched up with songs Wright plainly loves, and the first hour goes at the tempo of a music video.

That first hour is where our fun was. The opening escape, from a rooming house the Hunters have already surrounded, is cut by Paul Machliss so that every door and window has been shown to us before Richards needs it, and when he goes through the wrong one we knew exactly how wrong. We were having a fine time, and then a little ashamed of it, because the film keeps cutting to citizens at home phoning in his position for a bounty, and those citizens are plainly meant to be us. We noticed. We kept watching. That is the point the film wants to make, and it is the only one it makes cleanly.

The trouble is structure. Richards has to keep moving, so every twenty minutes William H. Macy’s Molie, or someone like him, hands him a new name and a new face and the film starts again in a new place with a new chase. Michael Cera’s Elton Perrakis brings the second half a jolt of nervous comedy the film could have used more of. Emilia Jones, as a member of the public called Amelia Williams who gets pulled into the chase, is given a whole change of heart in the time most films give a car crash. The screenplay, by Michael Bacall and Wright, has Killian explain what television is for at least twice, and the second time we had already got it. Then the final stretch makes a choice we will not describe, hedges it, and the hedging shows. By the two-hour mark we were checking our watches.

[*Shaun of the Dead*](https://film.one/film/shaun-of-the-dead) (2004), [*Hot Fuzz*](https://film.one/film/hot-fuzz) (2007) and *Baby Driver* (2017) each had a rhythm nobody else could have cut. Here, for long stretches, there is nothing on screen that only Wright could have done, and the jokes are fewer and land softer than in anything he has made. The reviews so far are split almost exactly down the middle, and we sit in the middle too, not out of caution but because the film is half of a good one.

See it in company, with the sound up, on a night when you want to watch a man run and do not much mind why. Lower your hopes at the two-hour mark. It runs 133 minutes and carries a 15.

*Fi1m score 60, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are split almost evenly, and the spread is wide. Most critics agree on two things: Edgar Wright’s chase sequences move, and Glen Powell carries them with more grit than charm. Praise clusters there, and on the decision to follow Stephen King’s novel more closely than the 1987 film, which several reviewers find restores the story’s political edge.

The reservations are just as consistent. A large number of critics say the satire on reality television is blunter than it wants to be, and the ending, whether called fudged, convoluted or confusing, is the most common complaint of all. The dissents run in both directions. The Telegraph and IndieWire find a furious, exhilarating thriller; The Times and The Independent find a dull, witless one, with The Independent arguing Powell is miscast. Between those poles sit the three-star notices, which is where the consensus settles: likeable, kinetic, and not as disturbing as it means to be.

## Straight answers

**Is The Running Man worth watching?**

*The Running Man* is worth watching for its first hour, and we scored it 60. Edgar Wright's version of the Stephen King novel is quick, handsome and well cast, with Glen Powell as the hunted man and Colman Domingo as the host who steals the film. It then repeats itself, the satire stays shallow, and the ending loses its nerve, so it suits a night when you want a chase and do not much mind why.

**How long is The Running Man, and what is it rated?**

*The Running Man* runs 2h 13m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is an action and thriller film.

**Where can I watch The Running Man in the US?**

*The Running Man* is streaming on Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel and Apple TV in the US, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video from $5.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Running Man, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Running Man* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not for children. It is a hunt to the death played as a fast action film, with Glen Powell's Ben Richards permanently a second from hitting someone and citizens phoning in his position for cash; it is angry rather than frightening. Older teenagers should be fine, and the squeamish will find the violence brisk rather than lingering.

**How does The Running Man compare to Battle Royale?**

*The Running Man* is the faster and glossier of the two, and [*Battle Royale*](https://film.one/film/battle-royale) is the better film. Edgar Wright plays his televised hunt as a music-video chase with a satire that never gets under the skin, while Kinji Fukasaku takes his schoolchildren seriously and does not blink at what they do to each other. Choose Wright for company and noise, Fukasaku for something that stays with you.

**Is The Running Man based on a true story or a book?**

*The Running Man* is based on Stephen King's 1982 novel, not on a true story. Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall stay closer to the book than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film did, keeping it poorer and angrier and putting the hero's sick child and wife back into the story. You do not need to have read it; the film explains its own rules more than once.

**What should I watch after The Running Man?**

After *The Running Man*, try [*Battle Royale*](https://film.one/film/battle-royale) (2000, Fi1m 83): Japan sends a class of schoolchildren to kill each other and does not blink. Then [*RoboCop*](https://film.one/film/robocop) (1987, Fi1m 91): Verhoeven’s Detroit, where the adverts are the satire and the satire draws blood; and [*The Long Walk*](https://film.one/film/the-long-walk) (2025, Fi1m 72): The other Stephen King death-game novel on screen, quieter and a good deal crueller.

### Reviews we read (25)

- **The Telegraph** (85/100, inferred): An exhilarating, kinetic adaptation that positions Glen Powell as a potential successor to Tom Cruise in a stylish, go-for-broke action film with strong showmanship. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/11/11/glenn-powell-the-running-man-review/)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (B+): Wright modernizes the prescient King story into a furious action thriller about totalitarian America, with Powell channeling class-war anger in a rare Hollywood film that aims to leave audiences fired up. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-running-man-movie-review-edgar-wright-glen-powell-1235159799/)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (80/100, inferred): The review calls it Edgar Wright's biggest and boldest film yet, a scathing satire with expansive world-building and retro-futurist style that delivers fizzy blockbuster fun. It praises Powell's grouchy, punchy lead performance while noting it is less funny than the director's earlier work. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-running-man/)
- **The Observer**, Wendy Ide (75/100, inferred): A brashly entertaining, rousing blast of propulsive popcorn entertainment in the vein of Paul Verhoeven, though not especially sharp in its insights or tidy in its plotting. [Read](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/edgar-wrights-the-running-man-is-propulsive-popcorn-entertainment)
- **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (B-): The adaptation stays closer to the book than the 1987 version but feels caught between action thrills and commentary, with mordant humor in the first hour giving way to a less clever and overstretched finish. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-running-man-review)
- **Vulture** (65/100, inferred): Wright’s propulsive and generally fun movie rips into reality TV but misses the mark by not focusing on the internet as the true villain, resulting in a toothless social commentary and a messy ending. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-running-man-review-the-internet-should-be-the-villain.html)
- **Radio Times**, Jeremy Aspinall (3/5): Edgar Wright produces plenty of nerve-jangling kinetic set-pieces and Glen Powell proves a charismatic hero in this big-budget Stephen King adaptation. The episodic plot with its variety of disguises occasionally leads to lulls in pace and tension. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-running-man-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (3/5): The film is likable and fun with full-tilt chase sequences, a punk aesthetic and sugar-rush soundtrack, but never actually disturbing as intended and the ending is fudged and anticlimactic. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/11/the-running-man-review-glen-powell-edgar-wright-stephen-king-future-shock-sci-fi-satire)
- **Screen Daily** (45/100, inferred): Edgar Wright’s updated take on Stephen King’s novel features propulsive set pieces and a starry turn from Glen Powell but skews closer to the original while eschewing real social commentary in favour of bombastic action. It runs out of steam before making any lasting impact. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-running-man-review-edgar-wrights-bombastic-stephen-king-adaptation-doesnt-go-the-distance/5210845.article)
- **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (4/2/2): Edgar Wright’s slick adaptation of the dystopian Stephen King novel fails to tackle key issues of our age or bring anything new to the death sports arena. It is weighed down by too many bad or boring decisions and plays too much by the book. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-running-man)
- **Time Out** (40/100, inferred): Edgar Wright delivers a glowering, passable sci-fi action flick that lacks his usual tightly calibrated pop-art house style and plays against the strengths of lead Glen Powell. It features rote set pieces and feels like it could have been made by any number of less gifted filmmakers. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-running-man-review-2025)
- **Total Film**, Molly Edwards (30/100, inferred): The critic deems it a disappointing Stephen King adaptation that wastes its potential despite some fun action sequences and Glen Powell's star power. The film is muddled, poorly paced, with thinly drawn characters and an inconsistent world. [Read](https://gamesradar.com/entertainment/action-movies/the-running-man-review-some-fun-action-and-glen-powells-star-power-arent-enough-to-energize-this-disappointing-stephen-king-adaptation)
- **The Independent** (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a near-total failure that strips away the source material's prescient bite, resulting in something bland and miscast. Glen Powell's lead performance feels particularly ill-suited to the role. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-running-man-review-glen-powell-b2862079.html)
- **The Times** (20/100, inferred): A phenomenally dull, po-faced and witless blockbuster that is simultaneously cloth-eared and a mindless studio product with nothing to say. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-running-man-review-a-film-about-inequality-from-clueless-millionaires-xnkzdc8j8)
- **Financial Times** (★★★☆☆): Delivers bracingly manic energy, ebullient enthusiasm for satire and high-speed peril, but comes undone in a confusing coda. [Read](https://ft.com/content/ff0a56b8-1e66-4402-a5b7-7901cd729299)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Amy Nicholson: The critic finds Wright's faithful adaptation of the book too tame and lacking rage, gore or fun, making it a smudged reflection of current realities rather than a sharp funhouse mirror. Powell fronts the action but the film limps into theaters despite timely relevance. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-13/running-man-review-2025-edgar-wright-glen-powell-josh-brolin-colman-domingo-emilia-jones)
- **Sight and Sound**: Edgar Wright’s faithful adaptation delivers skilful action sequences, winking gags and topical social commentary on inequality and media manipulation, powered by Glen Powell’s star wattage. It stumbles in a convoluted final act due to fidelity to the novel’s difficult ending. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/running-man-crowd-pleasing-thrill-ride-powered-star-wattage-glen-powell)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The film has plenty of action but feels hollow overall, with Wright delivering a journeyman effort lacking his usual momentum and precision while Glen Powell struggles to fully embody a compelling lead. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-running-man-glen-powell-edgar-wright-stephen-king-1236423446/)
- **The New York Times**: The critic finds an insistent bouncy quality in this dystopian thriller about a deadly reality TV game show in a fascist near-future America. Wright sticks closer to King's novel, restoring the protagonist's family and emphasizing the premise's satirical edge. [Read](https://nytimes.com/2025/11/13/movies/the-running-man-review-glen-powell-edgar-wright.html)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The review calls it better than the 1987 Schwarzenegger version but notes King's tale has little future shock left today; Wright overelaborates the concept into something showy yet restrained compared to his prior work. Powell brings a mix of viciousness and sweetness to the lead role amid crisp staging and mayhem. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/the-running-man-review-glenn-powell-edgar-wright-1236574249/)
- **Collider**, Aidan Kelley (8/10): The critic finds it a capable and entertaining remake that is more faithful to the source novel than the 1987 version while delivering Wright's signature action set pieces. They single out the topical political commentary on reality television and the strong lead performance by Glen Powell for praise, while noting the crowded cast and tidy ending as drawbacks. [Read](https://collider.com/the-running-man-review-glen-powell-edgar-wright/)
- **The Wrap** (50/100, inferred): The review finds the film largely entertaining with a strong performance from Powell but criticizes its third act for running out of steam and its ironic messaging about opposing media conglomerates while being released by one. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-running-man-review-edgar-wright-glen-powell/)
- **Deadline**, Damon Wise: The critic praises Wright's muscular reboot of the 1980s sci-fi hit for staying closer to Stephen King's original story and showcasing Powell's strengths as a vulnerable everyman, though notes some issues with the ending and AI themes. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/11/the-running-man-review-edgar-wright-glen-powell-stephen-king-1236613260/)
- **Den of Geek** (4 out of 5): The critic sees Wright's update as an urgent, distinctive take on the material suited to the post-truth era, blending action spectacle with King's cynicism despite some unevenness. They highlight the film's clever play with realities and images, along with Powell's natural charm. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-running-man-review-edgar-wright-reinvents-stephen-king/)
- **NME**, James Mottram (3): The critic calls it a vibrant, faithful adaptation and slick dystopian thriller with strong world-building, kinetic action and good turns from Powell, Domingo and Cera, but notes the story turns repetitive in the second half. They praise the satirical portrait of corporate America and revolutionary spirit. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-running-man-review-edgar-wright-glen-powell-3907191)

## Details

- **Director:** Edgar Wright
- **Director:** Edgar Wright
- **Screenplay:** Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
- **Novel:** Stephen King
- **Cinematography:** Chung Chung-hoon
- **Editor:** Paul Machliss
- **Music:** Steven Price
- **Production design:** Marcus Rowland
- **Costume design:** Julian Day
- **Producer:** Nira Park, Simon Kinberg, Edgar Wright
- **Cast:** Glen Powell as Ben Richards; Colman Domingo as Bobby T.; Lee Pace as Evan McCone; Josh Brolin as Dan Killian; William H. Macy as Molie; Michael Cera as Elton Perrakis; Emilia Jones as Amelia Williams; Daniel Ezra as Bradley
- **Runtime:** 2h 13m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 14 November 2025
- **Genres:** Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
- **Budget:** $110 million
- **Box office:** $69 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iHJHYjq7XI

## Where to watch in the US

- Paramount+: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Apple TV: add-on, uhd
- Apple TV: rent $5.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $5.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd
- Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Battle Royale* (2000), Fi1m 83: Japan sends a class of schoolchildren to kill each other and does not blink. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md)
- *RoboCop* (1987), Fi1m 91: Verhoeven’s Detroit, where the adverts are the satire and the satire draws blood. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/robocop.md)
- *Series 7: The Contenders* (2001): A reality show where contestants kill each other, made cheaply and played dead straight.
- *Punishment Park* (1971): Peter Watkins’s fake documentary about America hunting its dissidents across a desert.
- *The Long Walk* (2025), Fi1m 72: The other Stephen King death-game novel on screen, quieter and a good deal crueller. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-long-walk.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-running-man