Film Review — The Running Man (2025)

Edgar Wright’s take on The Running Man is the second Stephen King adaptation this year to feel oddly resonant, given the political times in which we live (the other being The Long Walk). Particularly in America, subjects such as health insurance and the increasingly absurd divide between rich and poor are raw nerves. All of which makes this version of The Running Man timely, without being preachy. It’s a hugely entertaining blast that all but obliterates memories of the rather tepid 1987 version, give or take the fact that this one amusingly features Arnold Schwarzenegger’s image on currency as a nod to the earlier film.

Ben Richards (Glen Powell), a resident of the dystopian Co-Op City, loses his blue-collar job due to sticking up for his co-workers once too often. Blacklisted and unable to get a job, he and his wife, Shelia (Jayme Lawson), are unable to pay for the urgent medical treatment that will save the life of their young daughter, Cathy (Alyssa and Sienna Benn). Feeling he has no alternative, Ben volunteers to be a contestant on a deadly reality television programme, “The Running Man”, in which he must survive 30 days without being killed by professional hunters or…