Some movies entertain you. Some challenge you. The Nines? It dissolves your sense of reality, piece by piece, until you’re not even sure what you’re watching anymore—and I mean that as the highest compliment.

This is the kind of film that refuses to be explained without spoiling its magic. Ryan Reynolds (in three wildly different roles) anchors a story that starts as a quirky Hollywood satire, morphs into a surreal survival thriller, and then… well, let’s just say the third act will have you questioning everything. Is it about addiction? God? The nature of storytelling? Video game design? The answer is yes—and also no.

What makes it brilliant is how it plays with perception. Just when you think you’ve cracked the code (“Aha! It’s all about—”), the film yanks the rug out with another layer of WTF. The clues are there—repeating numbers, mirrored dialogue, that eerie backyard puppet show—but they form a Rorschach test. Your interpretation says more about you than the movie.

It Really Sticks With You

• Reynolds gives a career-best performance(s), shifting from smarmy actor to desperate family man to unhinged creator.
• The structure feels like a narrative Möbius strip—no clear beginning or end, just an endless loop of “Wait, what?”
• That lingering shot of the gnarled tree? Chills. It’ll haunt you for days.

Go In Blind: Seriously, avoid spoilers like the plague. Half the fun is the slow-dawning horror that you, the viewer, might be part of the experiment. When the credits roll, you’ll either:
A) Immediately rewatch it to spot clues, or
B) Sit in stunned silence, wondering if reality itself is a glitch.

In all, The Nines is a trippy, ambitious brain-melter for fans of Synecdoche, New York and The Truman Show’s darker cousin. Not for those who like tidy endings—but essential for anyone who loves films that live in your head rent-free afterward.

(P.S. When you inevitably Google explanations afterward? You’ll find the director basically said: “All theories are correct.” Perfect.)