Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Rango, A Cure for Wellness) directs this relentlessly inventive script by Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying, Love and Monsters) about The Man from the Future (Sam Rockwell) who travels back in time to a Los Angeles diner to recruit a group of disgruntled patrons to help him in a one-night quest to stop the creation of a rogue artificial intelligence that will destroy humanity.
The film has a lot to say about our relationship to technology. Two of his recruits—Mark (Michael Peña) and Janet (Zazie Beetz)—are teachers who were attacked by students hypnotized by their phones. Another, Susan (Juno Temple), had her son cloned after he was killed in a school shooting, but something’s wrong with the kid. Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson) loses her partner to virtual reality after he refuses to remove his headset.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE
What’s it rated? R
When? 2025
Where’s it showing? Hulu
This is absurdist comedy at its best, and Rockwell is perfect in the lead role as a man who keeps coming back from the future to find the right combination of people to help him complete his mission. It’s wacky fun on the surface but explores our cultural decline. (134 min.) ∆
This article appears in July 9-16, 2026.
