WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Free Guy, now playing in theaters
Free Guy is, on the surface, a largely silly hybrid of The Truman Show and video game culture where a random background character is given the chance to see the world for what it is and react accordingly to it. But there are a number of surprisingly heady concepts on display in the film. And perhaps the most philosophically interesting is the conception of a man getting to talk about the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life with their creator.
The movie largely centers around the titular Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a well-meaning and softhearted NPC who exists in the video game world of Free City. And, like the rest of the inhabitants of the world, he's unaware of his true status. Guy genuinely believes himself to be a real person, living an unextraordinary life in an extraordinary world. But when he discovers a pair of sunglasses taken from one of the players who log on to bring chaos to Free City, he becomes more aware of his full potential and ability. However, despite leveling up, gaining weapons and earning a whole lot of skills, he fails to realize just what his world is, only being committed to impressing Molotov (Jodie Comer), a woman he's been transfixed with since he first saw her.
In reality, Molotov is one of the players visiting the world, and she's actually Millie, a video game designer whose work with her friend Keys (Joe Keery) was stolen to help fuel the game world that Guy is trapped in. Encountering Guy, Millie initially brushes him off, but as he proves himself an increasingly impressive figure, she becomes more engaged. He surprises her with skills and an earnest attitude, a genuine appreciation for everything around him. Millie even effectively goes on a minor date with him to his favorite part of the city, a relatively peaceful area bereft of missions or violence, and they share a kiss.
Not long after, Millie and Keys discover Antwan (Taika Watiti) intends to reset the server, effectively wiping out everyone and everything in Free City. Realizing now that the NPCs have effectively gained a level of sentience that had been previously unrealized -- with enough agency and individual wants to be considered genuine sentient artificial intelligence -- Keys convinces Millie to go into the game and warn Guy about the impending doom. But doing so means revealing the truth about his reality. Taking him back to their date site, Millie explains the situation, which breaks Guy's heart on multiple levels. He's confronted with the idea that everything he's ever known or loved or wanted never mattered, and all their suffering means literally nothing in the grand scheme of things.
It's an expected moment for Guy, who had to learn the truth about his world. But the fact that he's having this conversation with one of the creators of his world, after having fallen in love with her, makes it all the more painful. Guy seems not so much mentally shattered or spiritually broken as he is emotionally devastated -- a distinct difference. He treats the revelation like a betrayal by the person he most wanted to share the world with. Making matters worse is Millie, who's reduced to tears at putting this person she's grown to care for through an existential crisis.
From a metaphysical level, it's fascinating. The scene asks a God -- a benevolent creator unaware of the ways her creation would change and grow and evolve -- to confront her creation and admit that, in reality, nothing matters. It breaks her heart in a way the scene might not have otherwise, the genuine pain in Millie's response giving it an edge. This moment in Free Guy presents the idea of creation alongside the introduction of human emotion, which elevates the movie to a more interesting place.
To see Guy come to terms with his reality, Free Guy is in theaters now.