Good Fortune: Heaven can’t wait, Keanu, body-swaps and angelic chaos (fantasy film trailer).
If you’ve ever watched Trading Places while nursing a hangover and thought, “Yes, but what this really needs is Keanu Reeves as a celestial bumbler with a clipboard,” then Good Fortune might just be your personal rapture.
The latest trailer for Good Fortune has flapped its way down from the heavens (or Lionsgate’s PR department) and what a gloriously ridiculous ride it promises. Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut delivers a celestial comedy high on charm, chaos, and the kind of metaphysical meddling that would make Clarence from It’s a Wonderful Life roll his eyes and order a double.
The premise? Keanu Reeves plays Gabriel—a “budget guardian angel,” which sounds suspiciously like the spiritual equivalent of a Ryanair steward in a halo. Gabriel’s mission is to teach down-on-his-luck handyman Arj (played by Ansari) that money won’t fix his life. But when Arj is swapped Freaky Friday–style with his gluttonously wealthy employer Jeff (Seth Rogen, practically oozing crypto-bro energy), the plan backfires spectacularly. Arj loves the riches. Gabriel loses his wings. And Jeff ends up crammed into a rental with an ex-angel who’s now Googling how to human.
So far, so divine farce.
The trailer crackles with a kind of Scrooged meets Bruce Almighty energy, only with more ayahuasca, disco basements, and scenes of Keanu wistfully pondering the tragic fragility of knees (a topic he’s now intimately familiar with, thanks to a cold plunge accident that cracked his patella “like a potato chip”). Truly, the universe moves in mysterious—and deeply slapstick—ways.
Sandra Oh pops in as an angel with a clipboard and zero patience. Keke Palmer brings her usual sparkle. And Sherry Cola appears to be very keen to get biblical with Gabriel. If that sounds like an unholy mess, it sort of is—and gloriously so.
What’s most surprising here isn’t just Keanu’s beatific deadpan or Rogen’s perfect casting as a man whose only real hardship is managing his hot tub schedule. It’s that Ansari—armed with a midlife itch to prove comedy films still have a place on the big screen—is aiming not just for laughs, but for resonance. In between the absurdist flourishes and cringey shaman gigs, there’s a gentle poke at gig economy despair, late capitalist burnout, and the daft idea that all it takes to be happy is a better car and a bigger blender.
And because this is 2025, the body-swapping isn’t just for gags. It’s a parable with AirPods. A spiritual crisis with pool noodles. A fable for an age where we all secretly wonder if we’d be happier living someone else’s life… provided their Wi-Fi is better.
Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we love this kind of genre-splicing lunacy—a blend of fantasy, comedy, and existential whoopsie that dares to ask: what happens when heaven’s HR department mucks it all up?
Good Fortune premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this September, and then drops its full absurdist payload into cinemas in October. Until then, consider saying a little prayer for Gabriel. He may have wings to earn back, but at least he’s got Keanu’s cheekbones to see him through.
