The Running Man (2025) – Review and Summary

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“The Running Man” Film Details

• Director(s): Edgar Wright
• Writer(s): Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
• Based On Work By: Stephen King
• Distributor: Paramount Pictures
• Runtime: 2 Hour(s) and 13 Minutes
• Public Release Date (In Theaters): November 14, 2025
• Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Content Rating: Rated R
• Primary Language: English
• More Information (External Link)

Movie Summary

In a dystopian world, the rift between the haves and have-nots has widened to the point that no leader, no hero could possibly bridge the gap. Enter Ben Richards, a husband, a father of a young child, who, for stirring up trouble, mainly through standing up for himself or others, has become blacklisted by most of the major employers.

So, with seemingly no other choice, he does what all other desperate men do and goes to the Network Games building, hoping to make enough new dollars for his daughter, who is sick. However, rather than be selected for one of the games where, at worst, you embarrass yourself, Ben is chosen for The Running Man.

This is the most lucrative game since you can win a billion dollars, but no one has ever won. The longest run was for 29 days, of the 30, you have to spend dodging a team of elite hunters trying to kill you. But, desperate for even the consolation prize money, even if it means losing his life, Ben takes the opportunity and spends the next few weeks trying to stay alive and leaning on unlikely allies to make it as far as he can.

Cast and Characters

Ben Richards (Glen Powell)

• Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]

• Character Summary: Ben Richards wants to be a good father, provider, and husband, but his belief in right and wrong, justice, has led him to get fired repeatedly to the point of being on a major blacklist – making him virtually unemployable. However, by refusing to let his wife tease clients with the potential that she can/will do sex work, he decides to make money the way only the desperate, but prideful, still know how.

Bobby T (Colman Domingo)

• Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
• Character Summary: The host of The Running Man, whose booming voice and theatrics make him one of the most popular in the NGC.

What To Expect In “The Running Man” (Rated R) – Content Overview

• Dialog:
  • Cursing: Throughout
• Graphic Imagery or Violence:
  • Gun Violence: Full-On Battles
  • Violence Against Children: Yes (Context: Implied Murder)
  • Gore/ Blood/ Body Horror: Bleeding, Depiction of Open Wounds
  • Notable Violence: Intense Fight Scenes
• Sexual Content:
  • Nudity: Tantalizing
• Miscellaneous:
  • Drinking: Yes

Review and Commentary

Highlight(s)

Colman Domingo as Bobby T [83/100]

Colman Domingo as a game show host is honestly the one good, undisputable thing about The Running Man. How he engages with the studio audience, the public watching in the world of The Running Man, pushes the idea that Domingo’s flair for the grandiose should be taken to a major awards show. He just has that presence, alongside a booming voice, that really pushes the idea, with the right writing behind him, be it as an award show host or even on stage, the man needs to have the ability to play a larger-than-life character once more.

In fact, Domingo becomes so big that it makes you take notice of how bland Glen Powell as Ben Richards is.

Low Point(s)

They Stripped Richards Of His Personality [63/100]

Let me state that I read the book within the past month, so it is fresh in my memory. So, when I tell you they stripped Richards of all his personality, everything that made him interesting, and left us with a person whose range is disgruntled to angry, that is truly what you get in this version of The Running Man.

For in the book, Richards is made to be a working-class man, aware of what those who have all the riches have, but he isn’t envious of them in a “It should have been me” or “I would appreciate that more” type of way. He has this salt-of-the-earth vibe. Richards is portrayed like how they talk about farmers who don’t need a whole lot besides their family, their land, and getting what they earned.

But, in Glen Powell’s defense, he is but an actor, and between Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, who is both a co-writer and director, they did him dirty. However, let’s give grace where grace is due: adapting any Stephen King novel is a challenge, and the book version isn’t something most major studios would allow for a direct adaptation of.

It’s just unfortunate that they smoothed down Richards’ edge to the point where, whether he lives or dies, never mind his wife and daughter, becomes something you care less and less about as time goes on.

Seemingly Unsure How To Handle The Depiction Of Black Characters In The Book, They Made Them Bland Too [64/100]

In the book, King basically depicts Black people in such a negative light that it sounds like he was trying to appeal to those who were in line with everything Ronald Reagan would do during his presidency. To put it simply, most of the characters could not be depicted in 2025 the way they were written in the early 80s. Sadly, this means, like Richards, they lose what made them stand out in order to be modernized.

I would even say, almost in an apologist way, it is like, in order to balance how great the source material is, while acknowledging what was acceptable then isn’t acceptable now, they made almost patronizing changes. This leads to changes like making Richards’ wife Black or, despite having the same, formerly problematic Black characters in the movie, not tapping into modern urban lexicon and culture to modernize them.

Where Wright and Bacall could have had people who didn’t code-switch, fit superficial stereotypes, but showed intelligence, instead, The Running Man utterly avoids how racialized the book was and creates something damn near neutered.

On The Fence

The Action Movie Pace [72/100]

While set in a dystopian time, due to the pacing of The Running Man, you get the look of grungy, with brutalist architecture, but nothing feels lived in. The beats in the book where Richards is recovering, planning his next move, creating a possible network to actually win The Running Man, they are gone.

In fact, to compensate for this, they push Richards to be a hero of some sort. They make him a rebel against the system, far beyond what the book presented, to help explain why he gets quick and sudden support, rather than paying people to help him.

It all just creates this sense that The Running Man was developed in a similar vein to a YA novel adaptation. Where, as bad as things could get, including with the original ending, it’s like there was this belief that audiences, specifically movie audiences, would never accept that, it wouldn’t test well, so everything was made quicker, more palatable, and anything which could be disagreeable was removed for the sake of potential box office success, rather than honoring or enhancing the story telling of the source material.

Overall

Our Rating (70/100): Mixed (Divisive)

Despite the names behind The Running Man, it is an utter disappointment. It seems too fearful of what the source material said, had, and did, and so it waters it down to the point it feels more inspired by than an adaptation. Thus making it one of the worst Stephen King adaptations in recent memory – especially after a rather good run of movies, like The Long Walk, and even shows, over the last few years.

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