The Running Man

A closer look at the story

Ben Richards, a working-class father, has only one concern: saving his sick daughter. Yet there is no way for him to find the money it would take. As he struggles in desperation, the charming but merciless producer of the hit TV show The Running Man persuades him to try a last resort: entering the deadly competition. The rules are simple; the longer Ben stays alive, the bigger the prize. On his trail are the Hunters, whose job is to take him down. But Ben's refusal to bow, his sharp instincts and his sheer grit unexpectedly make him the audience's favourite, and, more than that, a danger to the whole system. The higher the ratings climb, the greater the danger becomes, and Ben has to outsmart not only the Hunters but a nation hooked on watching him fall. Edgar Wright directs this 133-minute 2025 action thriller based on the Stephen King book, with Glen Powell in the role of Ben.