Director: Daniel André
Mortality gets turned into a punchline delivery system in "Running on Empty," a 2024 comedy that pairs a terminal diagnosis with a dating service built around it.
What is Running on Empty about?
Mort has just been told he has less than a year left, and before the news fully lands, his fiancé walks out on him. Adrift and out of options, he signs up for a dating service with an unusual matching algorithm: it pairs people by how much time they have left rather than by taste or personality. That's how he meets Kate, and the two start circling each other with the kind of bluntness only shared urgency can produce. Complicating things further is a volatile pimp who has taken a personal interest in Mort, turning ordinary errands into tense standoffs. Keir Gilchrist and Lucy Hale lead as Mort and Kate, with Jay Pharoah, Monica Potter, Jim Gaffigan, Francesca Eastwood, Rhys Coiro and Clara McGregor filling out a supporting cast that keeps tipping the story between dark comedy and genuine tenderness.
Cast & crew
Gilchrist plays Mort with a deadpan resignation that keeps the film from tipping into melodrama, while Hale gives Kate a sharper, more grounded energy that balances him out. Jim Gaffigan and Jay Pharoah supply the film's broader comic beats in smaller roles.
Context & significance
Directed by Daniel André, "Running on Empty" leans on premise-driven comedy rather than slapstick, using its death-clock dating service as a way to strip away small talk between its two leads. The film's 91-minute runtime keeps its tonal swings — grief, absurdity, and romance — moving at a brisk pace.
Where & how to watch
"Running on Empty" is available on K-Time with Farsi subtitles, letting Persian-speaking viewers follow Mort and Kate's story in the original English performances. Watching requires only a free K-Time account, and the platform's interface is built with Farsi-speaking audiences in mind.