The Running Man
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 14, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 52 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
26
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The TelegraphRobbie CollinNov 11, 2025
It’s perhaps Wright’s first feature to feel, in a positive way, like the work of a director for hire: every flourish and trick here isn’t in service of a singular creative vision so much as a great, rumbling excitement machine. Read full review
88
Washington PostChris KlimekNov 13, 2025
The Brit who brought us such violent delights as “Shaun of the Dead” and “Baby Driver” has just the right mixture of empathy and impishness to turn King’s cautionary tale into a would-be blockbuster with integrity. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 11, 2025
For all of the multiplex-friendly fun Wright’s conjuring with this over-the-top spin on dystopian sci-fi blockbusters, the prevailing feeling here is dread. Most filmmakers would have diluted the grit and genuine sense of moral free-fall. Wright doubles the dosage. Every adrenaline rush comes with a chaser of low rage and simmering despair. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentNov 11, 2025
Edgar Wright’s biggest film yet feels like something out of both the future and the 1980s: a scathing satire that’s also a lot of fizzy blockbuster fun. Read full review
80
ColliderAidan KelleyNov 11, 2025
All of Wright's movies only get better and better on every rewatch, given the immense attention to detail, and revisits of The Running Man will undoubtedly garner more appreciation for a movie that's already one of the most crowd-pleasing pictures of the year. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshNov 13, 2025
Wright makes the argument that in such a dystopian, fascist state, there are only a few things that will save us: class solidarity, physical media and literacy. It’s a powerful and potent message that cuts through any and all of the bombastic busyness of The Running Man. Read full review
75
LooperDominic GriffinNov 11, 2025
The Running Man is such an enjoyable race while you're running it, but once you make it past the finish line and start reflecting on the experience, it leaves too much to be desired. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 11, 2025
A lively, satirical stab at modern-day reality TV, scary big-brother technology, cultural dissension and rampant income inequality, all slathered in blood-soaked ultraviolence and bonkers charm. And don’t worry, old-school Arnold lovers: It’s so insanely different from the original movie that you can adore one without losing any love for the other. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichNov 11, 2025
Its ending might cop out of the novel’s most ghoulishly prescient detail, but that isn’t enough to completely neuter the rare Hollywood product that dares to stoke our anger rather than mollify it — that reminds us that our rage is a valuable resource worth a lot more than money, and one that we can’t afford to waste on each other. Read full review
75
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerNov 11, 2025
The Running Man does also offer a more anarchic message than we might be used to from our standard Hollywood blockbusters, but that message gets drowned out, leaving behind a loud violent romp that's almost a bit too on the nose for these loud violent times of ours. Read full review
70
IGNStaff (Not Credited)Nov 11, 2025
It’s a very well put-together film, and more so than not, it’s full of charming performances, clever little details and some less-outlandish-than-I’d-like social commentary. Even though Edgar Wright’s stamp isn’t clearly on every sequence like some of his previous work, The Running Man sprints where it needs to, giving Glen Powell his first chance to be a full-fledged action hero. Read full review
70
Screen RantAlex HarrisonNov 11, 2025
Edgar Wright and Glen Powell are consummate entertainers, and they made this dystopian Stephen King movie as fun and guilt-free as they could. Read full review
67
Original-CinThom ErnstNov 13, 2025
Wright may have made The Running Man the way he and King always wanted — just not necessarily the one we expected. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 13, 2025
The ending simply lacks the guts to remain committed to King’s sociopolitical fury, and what starts as Wright’s best post-Cornetto Trilogy film ends up as his weakest. But when it’s really up to speed, The Running Man laps the competition. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerNov 11, 2025
[Wright] continues to prove more adept at tightly weaving his thematic concerns into genre-friendly comedy. Making a muscular, fun-enough adaptation of The Running Man is at once beneath him and beyond him. Read full review
67
The Film StageAlistair RyderNov 11, 2025
The most spectacular sequences here are when [Wright] allows himself to let loose, working towards his instincts rather than against them. Read full review
64
PolygonTasha RobinsonNov 11, 2025
Edgar Wright has built his reputation on steering his movies into unlikely, exciting places. In The Running Man, it rarely feels like anyone’s hand is on the wheel. Read full review
64
Paste MagazineJarrod JonesNov 11, 2025
Wright’s flair for freakazoids remains undeniable, but his focus on rebellion obscures the cruel machinery that incites it. That reluctance to linger too long in the muck of this world—to give perceptible shape to the apathy that creates this level of soulless greed—leaves Ben fighting an abstraction. It’s a devil we’re familiar with, just not one this film is willing to face head-on. Read full review
63
The Travers TakePeter TraversNov 14, 2025
Glen Powell runs for his life to win a reality TV jackpot in a remake of a dystopian Stephen King thriller that comes on like gangbusters—until it loses steam. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 13, 2025
Given some of the dubious decisions made in crafting the 1987 film, there was ample opportunity to make vast improvements. Unfortunately, this Running Man fails to take advantage and, while stumbling on approach to the finish line, it trips and falls in the final moments. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesDominic BaezNov 13, 2025
There’s a lot to like in The Running Man, so it’s all the more disappointing that its most interesting elements get such short shrift. As a humorous action film, it’s an enjoyable experience. As a social commentary on a dystopian America, it mostly just trips over itself. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzNov 11, 2025
There’s no compelling evidence onscreen that the huddled masses that the script is so concerned with are truly moved and edified by watching Ben’s rebellious acts and anti-capitalist slogans on TV, or if he’s just their latest shiny object of distraction. Read full review
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