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The Running Man (2025) Review

Edgar Wright takes aim at class exploitation, wealth inequality, fake news and even the Kardashians in his latest flick, that serves up a solid action-packed game of cat and mouse. The film follows Ben Richards (Glen Powell) as a working-class dad, who is desperate to provide the medicine needed to cure his sick daughter and is struggling to find the financial means to do so. His solution is to enter the titular running man - a gameshow in which contestants attempt to survive 30 days while being pursued by deadly Hunters for the reward of a life-changing sum of money.


Ben is kept on his toes by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), the show’s producer, as he persistently probes his mouthy contestant in an effort to bait him into committing actions that will drive the ratings for the show higher. It is through these interactions, that Killian morphs fully into the embodiment of the film’s antagonist; that being the network itself, exploiting the lower classes for their own benefit and using its power to maintain this status quo, ensuring nobody can rise up and dethrone the powers that be.


The majority of the film has us following Ben whilst on the run. We see him seeking aid from allies from his civilian life, the homeless, strangers he meets on the street and even hostages. This is where movie really excels. There is a constant sense of paranoia with constant reminders of the hunters’ presence and the blaring inescapable televised updates of the show.


The ensemble of allies including William H. Macy, Daniel Ezra and Michael Cera each add to the sense of injustice with each their own personal story of injustice at the hands of the network. It is through these characters that we discover that there is more to the gameshow than meets the eye. Glen Powell meanwhile, shows why he remains the leading man of the moment, although this time we see him tap into more rage than charm than we are perhaps used to.


There are times where a character’s actions do require a little extra suspense of logic and maybe instead only serve to move the plot towards an ending that perhaps does feel slightly rushed and unsure of itself, but frankly, the rest of the film is such a good time that it doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment.


I’ve always been a fan of Edgar Wright’s work. His last outing, “Last Night in Soho”, while it may be seen as a departure from his prior action/comedy movies, was a well-executed and technically brilliant genre piece - even if it failed to be a widespread crowd pleaser. The Running Man should have no such problem. It is a propulsive thrill of a film with a stellar cast to boot that deserves to be seen on the big screen.


★★★



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