The Running Man Review: The Best Stephen King Adaptation of 2025
- Chad Marriott
- Nov 20, 2025
- 3 min read
The Running Man is a dystopian story that follows Ben Richards (played by Glenn Powell) as he attempts to provide for his family in a fascistic oligarchy that is a little too similar to the path our society is heading down. The future has game shows as "get rich quick" opportunities, essentially scams to monetize the misery of the poorest in society to entertain the wealthiest (social media and reality TV, am I right?).
Edgar Wright directs, using his distinct combination of comedy, color, and choreography. The jokes don't land quite like in Scott Pilgrim, nor does the story reach the dramatic heights of Last Night in Soho. It does, however, entertain and give the audience something to think about. Parody works more efficiently as a social critique than long-winding monologues and discourse that can be found in freshman philosophy classes (looking at you, The Long Walk). Judging this film is difficult because it exists in multiple categories. It has enough color and creativity to rise above the run-of-the-mill action flick, it has enough levity to distinguish itself from other social commentary, and it has enough of those first two to make it more than a complete parody/spoof (Shaun of the Dead).
The Running Man Review: Acting, Directing, Writing
The Running Man starts awkwardly, with strained performances and uneven writing. The first 20-30 minutes are some of the worst art sequences of 2025. Once the "hunt" begins and the plot develops beyond "the suffering of the masses," all aspects of the story pick up. The film features interesting performative characterizations, strong action sequences, and dialogue that syncs up with the dystopian world they are building.
The strongest section of the film is that with Michael Cera, who plays a backwoods Marxist fanatic named Elton Parrakis. Cera's combination of mania and competence makes the scene both interesting and hilarious. The film works best when it acknowledges the absurdity of monetizing misery and the creativity of those who fight against it. The character that helps Ben at the beginning, Bradley Throckmorton (played by Daniel Ezra), also has some entertaining scenes of a similar fashion.
The Running Man Review: Creative Social Critique
The social critique films are getting better lately after a period of nuance-less films that argue a point of view with the same level of creativity as an after-school special or Christian film. Earlier this year, Sinners set a new bar for this approach in the horror genre, and perhaps The Running Man can do that for the Sci-fi, action-comedy genre.
This film is a solid example of showing, not telling. When the film tries to explain something, it becomes preachy and boring (such as when the Richards discuss their dying baby for five minutes). When the plot shows, through the cancer patient, the horrors of society (suffering quietly in a separate room), it has something interesting to say.
Even the comedy of the Americanos (a Kardashian parody) that ridicules the substance-less entertainment society watches instead of engaging with the suffering of those a few feet away offers a better commentary than most films do now. This film helps prove that parody is a more effective tool for exemplifying societal issues than the more "preachy" films of a similar vein.
For example, The Long Walk came out earlier this year and felt like a freshman college student's manifesto rather than a cohesive argument against tyranny. Why? In that film, the enemy is a vague, cartoonish general. In The Running Man, the antagonist is a behind-the-scenes corporate executive who operates everything for clear monetary and societal purposes.
The Running Man Review, Rating, and Ranking In Brief
Review: The Running Man provides action, comedy, and social commentary in a nice package. It runs a little long for what it has to say, but once the film gets going, it's quite entertaining. Edgar Wright's films always provide the audience with an enjoyable experience, and this film is no exception.
Rating: 4/5
Ranking: 17/39 (Ranking in the total number of films I've seen in the theater in 2025)
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