A well-meaning but inept angel meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist. A film by Aziz Ansari, starring Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and Keanu Reeves.

Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is a guardian angel tasked with texting and driving safety. His job is to watch over people who are about to get into accidents while texting behind the wheel. When their lives are in danger, Gabriel places his hand on their shoulder, and his power makes them suddenly stop looking at their phones and focus on the road instead, preventing them from crashing into other vehicles or pedestrians.

Gabriel finds himself drawn to Arj (Aziz Ansari), a documentary editor struggling to find work. While watching Arj reply to a text saying he’s giving up on life after failing to land yet another job, Gabriel taps him on the shoulder, saving him from crashing into a tanker truck.

To make ends meet, Arj juggles a part-time job at a hardware supply store with odd gigs on TaskSergeant, an app that lets users hire people for temporary tasks like waiting in line for two hours to buy famous cinnamon buns or doing their laundry. Despite taking every gig he can get and working constantly, Arj barely scrapes together enough money to survive.

During a break at the hardware supply store, Arj is approached by Elena (Keke Palmer), who’s trying to start a union to improve working conditions and look out for the employees. Elena tries to convince Arj to join the cause. Even though Arj agrees that the work environment is terrible, he brushes her off, insisting that he’s only working there part-time to save some money before moving on.

Later that evening, Arj runs into Elena again at a taco stall on a nearby street. He overhears her asking for suadero, mentioning it’s her favorite, and the disappointment in her voice when she learns they’re sold out. Arj offers her some of his since he ordered four suadero tacos, which Elena happily accepts.

Suadero is a thin cut of meat in Mexican cuisine, taken from the intermediate part of the cow or pig between the belly and the leg. It has a smooth texture rather than muscle grain. Suadero is typically confited or fried and is commonly used as a filling for tacos, as well as in sandwiches (tortas) and gorditas. It is a fatty cut, requiring slow cooking to become tender and flavorful. Suadero is also known by different names in other countries: matambre in Argentina, sobrebarriga in Colombia, and rose meat in the USA.

The two share tacos together. When Arj mentions he hasn’t been sleeping well lately and asks for tips, Elena tells him she’s been using sleep stories on her phone. She says there’s this one guy whose voice is so boring it knocks her out instantly. As they talk, Arj learns that Elena makes furniture and took the job at Hardware Heaven just for the employee discount. Meanwhile on the rooftop, Gabriel watches over them, curious about where things might go between Arj and Elena.

The next day, Gabriel (Texting and Driving) attends a meeting on the rooftop of Bryson Family Apartments. Angels from different departments gather there, including Haleema (Tsunamis & Monsoons), Erick (Accidental Falls), Reginald (Musical Inspiration), Geraldine (Literacy Inspiration), Aksel (Avalanches), and Azrael (Lost Souls). The meeting is led by Martha (Angel Management).

Everyone listens as Azrael (Stephen McKinley Henderson) tells his story about a lost soul named Kenneth who was ready to jump headfirst into Niagara Falls. Azrael placed his arm over Kenneth’s shoulder and revealed to him what he had to live for, stopping him from ending his life and setting him on his true path. Gabriel is impressed and feels a strong desire to help guide people just like Azrael does.

After the meeting ends, Gabriel approaches Martha when she’s alone and asks if there’s a way he can take on more meaningful work like Azrael does. He tells her he wants to guide people, change their lives, and save a lost soul. Martha explains that finding a lost soul isn’t easy, and showing them their path is incredibly hard. When Gabriel says he’s already found someone who’s ready to give up on life, Martha quickly shuts him down, reminding him that guiding people isn’t his job. She then asks what’s on his texting and driving schedule this week. Gabriel tells her he’s supposed to save a woman named Elena from backing into a telephone pole.

A couple days later, Arj accepts a garage cleaning job through the TaskSergeant app and arrives at a hilltop mansion. There he meets Jeff (Seth Rogen), a wealthy venture capitalist. Arj immediately recognizes him from the other day at There Will Be Buns, where he watched Jeff pick up cinnamon buns the staff had set aside for him after telling everyone else they were sold out. Arj learns from the staff that Jeff is one of the bakery’s investors.

Jeff mentions that TaskSergeant has been a lifesaver for him since his personal assistant left a while ago. After Arj finishes cleaning and organizing the garage exactly as Jeff instructed, Jeff is impressed. Arj seizes the opportunity and asks if Jeff would consider hiring him as his assistant. Jeff is initially hesitant since they just met, but he really likes Arj’s easygoing vibe and offers him a one-week trial to see how it goes.

Things seem to be going well for Arj, until one evening while Gabriel is still watching over him, Arj gets a call from Elena canceling their date. She explains that while driving her cousin’s car, she was trying to send a video of a dog doing backflips and backed into a telephone pole. She asks if they can meet tomorrow instead since she needs to deal with the situation now. Arj agrees to reschedule.

This scene bothers me because Gabriel is literally watching over Arj when Elena calls, so he should realize that her accident happened because he failed to do his job as a guardian angel. But the film never shows Gabriel’s reaction or even acknowledges this. It’s a missed opportunity that could’ve added depth to his character.

The next day, Arj asks Jeff if he can leave a bit early for a date after finishing Jeff’s errands. Jeff suggests that if he really likes this girl, he should take her to Dunsmoor. When Arj mentions the restaurant might be too expensive, Jeff brushes it off, insisting it’s not, and recommends he order the ribeye for her. Jeff even offers to let Arj borrow a jacket he bought a while ago but never wore.

Arj and Elena have a lovely date at an upscale restaurant, but Arj soon realizes the food is way more expensive than Jeff led him to believe. When Elena sees the bill, she suggests they split it, but Arj insists on paying. He decides to use the company credit card.

The next day, when Jeff finds out Arj used the company credit card for dinner, Arj tries to explain that he already talked to Jeff’s accountant and promises to pay him back. But Jeff doesn’t see it that way. He remains firm that they need to stop working together and fires Arj. Later, Arj opens the TaskSergeant app only to find his account has been deactivated and they’re currently full on workers. To make money, Arj decides to donate plasma and later falls asleep at Denny’s. When he wakes up, he realizes his car has been towed.

All hope seems lost. Arj doesn’t know how he can keep going. When Gabriel sees Arj put his head in his hands, just like in Azrael’s story, he has an epiphany. He’s convinced Arj is a lost soul in need of his guidance. Gabriel appears before Arj and places his hand on his shoulder to reveal his future. But Arj’s future turns out to be even bleaker than his current situation. Arj decides his struggling life isn’t worth living compared to Jeff’s, who’s wealthy and can do whatever he wants. To show Arj that Jeff’s life isn’t perfect and comes with its own downsides, Gabriel swaps their lives. When Arj wakes up, he discovers he’s now living as Jeff, while Jeff has become him.

Written and directed by American actor Aziz Ansari in his directorial debut, GOOD FORTUNE is a supernatural comedy about an angel trying to help a struggling man find hope in life. When his efforts don’t work, the angel impulsively uses his powers to swap the man’s life with that of a wealthy businessman.

This well-meaning but misguided act backfires spectacularly, resulting in the angel losing his wings and powers. Now stripped of his abilities, he must find a way to undo the damage and restore everyone’s lives to their destined path.

The narrative is pretty typical. There’s nothing fresh about it from a storytelling perspective. An angel swaps the lives of a poor man and a rich man to teach the struggling guy that there’s more to life than money. But the filmmaker never digs deeper to uncover any meaningful lessons, nor does he lean into dark comedy, satire, or even basic humor.

Instead of showing us why the struggling man would want to return to his old life, the angel just preaches at him, explaining everything through dialogue. First of all, why does this angel even have the power to swap people’s lives? It feels arbitrary and frankly obnoxious. Then there’s this ridiculous rule that he can’t just swap their lives back unless the protagonist genuinely wants it “from his heart.” Really?

Keanu Reeves delivers a lovely performance as Gabriel, the angel tasked with saving people from texting and driving. That said, I can’t call it great acting when the role only requires him to speak in a mostly monotonous tone. His character feels more like a side character for the first 30 minutes anyway.

Sandra Oh plays a managerial angel who oversees the other angels to make sure they’re doing their jobs properly, including Gabriel. I like Sandra Oh, but why her character constantly speaks in riddles is still a mystery to me.

Keke Palmer plays Elena, the protagonist’s supposed love interest and the person who guides him toward the right path. Elena is the most interesting character in the entire film because she actually fights for what she believes in, while the other characters just sort of exist. I feel like Palmer is underutilized for both her acting ability and comedic talent. Her character could’ve been fleshed out to be bolder and funnier instead of just drifting in and out of scenes as a side character. Interestingly, by the end of the film, Elena still hasn’t managed to start the union she’s so determined to create. Her dream of being a furniture maker gets mentioned once at the beginning and never comes up again.

GOOD FORTUNE premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) on 6 September 2025. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 17 October.