Publication Date: 10-25-2025

Good Fortune (2025) review

Dir. Aziz Ansari

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

While films like The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, and Death of a Unicorn took the slogan “eat the rich” and used it as a theme to inspire delightful schadenfreude across multiple genres, Good Fortune positions itself in the same court, but expands the statement with, “but first, let them stew.”

Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut should’ve been Being Mortal a few years back, but Bill Murray successfully screwed that up for all involved. So, the popular TV actor and author moved forward with the same cast (Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer) and made Good Fortune instead, a contemporaneous It’s a Wonderful Life-esque tale that sheds light on the harsh realities of the working poor, who work extremely hard for what little they had and get the pipe with no Vaseline at seemingly every turn.

But it wouldn’t be Aziz if it wasn’t both blisteringly funny and disarmingly sweet. This high-concept, fantastical comedy recalls other similar works like Click insofar that it takes a multilayered story and extracts all its comic and narrative possibilities.

Aziz plays Arj, a down-on-his-luck gig worker who hawks over food delivery and task apps in search of his next haul of chump change. Lurking in the background, unseen by anyone, is Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), a low-ranking guardian angel whose job is to save people from crashing while texting and driving. Gabriel longs to save lost souls, and while he should be watching Elena (Palmer), Arj’s co-worker at a hardware store, he instead gets distracted watching Arj struggle through life. Arj eventually seems to get his big break when he takes a job to a wealthy hedge fund manager named Jeff (Rogen).

Gabriel makes the reckless decision of inserting himself into Arj’s life to get him to appreciate his existence, with hopes that the size of his wings will grow. His plan: swap Arj and Jeff’s lives for a brief period of time to see if Arj misses his old life and wants it back. With that, Jeff becomes a gig worker and Arj becomes a wealthy mogul with little concerns in life besides whether he should take a dip in his pool, or spend time in his sauna. Naturally, when the probationary period of time is up, Arj doesn’t want to go back to his old life and forfeit prestige and popularity. As a result, Martha strips Gabriel of his wings and then he must learn to live life as a human, experiencing divine items like burgers, cigarettes, and federal taxes for the very first time.

Aziz accomplishes humanizing all three of his central individuals and yet still affords time to make Elena a living, breathing character. Elena is hellbent on unionizing the workers at her hardware store, advocating for better working conditions amidst low pay and long hours. Every plot both big and small in Good Fortune deals with the ferocious wealth inequality in America that’s become as pervasive as the flag itself.

A chief ingredient to Good Fortune‘s success is how grounded it is. Yes, the inclusion of guardian angels is pure fantasy, but the circumstances for Arj as a struggling delivery driver are remarkably realistic. Arj gets stiffed on a tip because a customer is irate after only receiving one packet of ranch sauce. Arj can’t pay his parking tickets if he doesn’t make enough money on his deliveries. When Arj’s car is towed, he cannot afford the impound fees, let alone the parking tickets. These moments show that Aziz truly spent time talking to gig workers and those who rely on food delivery apps in order to make something resembling a living.

Good Fortune is also buoyed by a rich tapestry of great performances. Keanu Reeves taps into the soul of a “budget guardian angel” with such well-intentioned goodness that there are probably desperately few actors who could’ve afforded Gabriel the same level of innocence as him. Rogen’s evolution into an actor who can retain his comedic poise while also playing a dimensional character has been enjoyable to witness in movies like Long Shot and An American Pickle, and his abilities continue to evolve here.

The third act really doubles down on the core themes of corporate America’s ignorance of those who keep their companies running, and elites believing they’ve won the marathon of life when they started on mile 18. Aziz’s directorial debut proves a multitude of things, including his ability to juggle multiple storylines, flesh out characters, and use them as conduits for larger, more significant themes without sacrificing entertainment value.

Starring: Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen, Keanu Reeves, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Penny Johnson Jerald, and Sherry Cola. Directed by: Aziz Ansari.