Film

Good Time

Name: Good Time
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Buddy Duress, Taliah Webster, Jennifer Jason Leigh

A fluorescent, wired chase through one endless New York night, all sodium light and blaring synths, as Robert Pattinson's small-time hustler tries to spring his brother from custody by making every wrong call available to him. It's less a plot than a panic attack with a soundtrack — gripping, exhausting, and weirdly funny in its total commitment to bad decisions. For thrill-seekers who like crime cinema anxious rather than cool.

TMDb rating

7.2

If you liked this

Uncut Gems2019

Same directors, same nervous-system assault, just a diamond instead of a bank job and Adam Sandler instead of Pattinson — if you want more Safdie panic, this is the purest hit available.

But It's essentially the same trick turned up louder; if Good Time exhausted you, this one will too.

Dog Day Afternoon1975

The original sweaty, sun-baked bank job spiraling out of control, with Pacino turning a botched heist into a media circus — Good Time's spiritual grandfather in every way.

But Slower and stagier by today's standards; it earns its tension through talk rather than momentum.

After Hours1985

Scorsese's fever dream of one ordinary guy's night in downtown Manhattan going catastrophically sideways, scored like a nightmare comedy — the same escalating dread, minus the guns.

But It's comedy first, thriller second; if you wanted the crime and violence, this plays it much lighter.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Panic in Needle Park1971

Same city, same underworld economics of desperation and love — decades before the Safdies, Pacino's junkie hustler was already living Connie's exact moral logic in grainy 16mm.

A quietly devastating early Pacino performance and a vision of 1970s New York as bruised and unglamorous as Good Time's — proof this kind of desperate love story is nothing new.

But Much slower and bleaker, with none of the propulsive chase energy; it sits in misery rather than sprinting from it.

Nightcrawler2014

A different city, same moral freefall — Jake Gyllenhaal's ambulance-chasing cameraman gets more monstrous the more he succeeds, with a similarly nauseating forward momentum.

But Colder and more calculated than Good Time's chaos; there's less sympathy on offer, and it knows it.

A Most Violent Year2014no page yet

Oscar Isaac plays a desperate businessman fending off ruin across one brutal New York winter — the same city as adversary, the same sense every choice makes things worse.

But Handsomely restrained where Good Time is unhinged; patience is required for its slow-burn dread.

The Place Beyond the Pines2013no page yet

A crime spirals across generations instead of one night, but the same current runs through it: desperate men, doomed choices, and the people left to pay for them.

But It trades Good Time's breathless pace for a much longer, sadder structure spanning years.

Drive2011

Neon-lit, synth-scored, and just as committed to style as substance — a getaway driver's night goes wrong in a way that feels like Good Time's cooler, quieter cousin.

But More minimalist and detached; if you loved Pattinson's manic energy, Gosling's stillness might frustrate you.

Collateral2004

One long, tense LA night, a stranger dragged into someone else's crisis, a city transformed by lighting into its own character — Michael Mann working the same nocturnal dread.

But Slicker and more controlled; it lacks the queasy, chaotic realism that makes Good Time so uncomfortable.

Killer Joe2012no page yet

Trashier, meaner, and just as committed to watching desperate people make catastrophic decisions — a pitch-black Texas noir with the same nihilistic pulse running through it.

But Considerably more brutal and lurid; its shock value can tip from tense into simply grim.

Dark Days2000

A documentary about people actually living in the tunnels beneath New York — the real underworld Good Time only gestures at, filmed by the people who lived it.

Shot by the tunnel residents themselves, it's a genuinely astonishing, humane document of an invisible city — no actors, no artifice, just people surviving beneath New York's streets.

But No plot, no chase, no crime — if you want narrative propulsion, this offers atmosphere and testimony instead.

Spring Breakers2013

Same descent into candy-colored criminal chaos, same sense of characters drowning in a world too bright and loud for them — Harmony Korine's answer to the Safdies' fluorescent panic.

A day-glo nightmare of spring break gone criminal, gorgeous and grotesque in equal measure — if Good Time's neon dread appealed, this pushes the aesthetic further into hallucination.

But Style dominates over story to an extreme degree; some will find it vapid rather than trance-like.