Free Guy (2021)

Free Guy 

By Emily Hubbard

Ryan Reynolds stars in the surprise hit of the summer 

  • 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥
  • Directed by: Shawn Levy
  • Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi
  • Where to find it: Disney + and in cinemas 


No Copyright Infringement Intended 

Surprises are great, no matter how big or how small they may be. It could be a visit from a friend you haven’t seen in years, or just simply getting 10 chicken nuggets in your meal instead of 9. No matter the magnitude, a surprise is always great, which is partially what makes Free Guy so enjoyable. I have to confess, from its’ trailers I had low expectations of this film, expecting a low brow, cringey, run-of-the-mill Ryan Reynolds movie, but the end result could not have been more of a welcome surprise that resulted in a film that will almost definitely finish near the top of my year-end list.

Directed by Shawn Levy, the man behind Night at the Museum, Free Guy follows Guy (Ryan Reynolds), an extremely optimistic bank worker who discovers he’s an NPC (non-playable character) inside a popular open-world video game: Free City. Much like other films in its genre, such as 2018’s Ready Player One, Free Guy’s narrative changes between inside the fictional game and the real world. In the real world, we find Millie (Jodie Comer), a talented developer who befriends Guy (Ryan Reynolds) whilst playing the game. Comer’s character, however, is not playing the game for leisure, but to find evidence that will help her as she tries to take down its’ creator Antwan (Taika Waititi) for stealing code that she created with her partner Keys (Joe Keery). It sounds ridiculous, and it is but in the best way.

Ryan Reynolds is as charming as ever in his role as Guy, a character who believes he’s destined for more in his (fake) world, in what could be his best-suited role since Deadpool. Reynolds isn’t the only star of Free Guy, however, as Killing Eve alum Jodie Comer (Millie) and Stranger Things star Joe Keery (Keys) provide a grounded side to the story in the real world with performances full of both chemistry and charm. Plus, the addition of Taika Waititi as arrogant tech mogul Antwan was a stroke of genius on behalf of those behind Free Guy’s casting as Waititi is a delight in any project he’s involved with.

As you may expect, Free Guy is packed full of pop culture references and A-List cameos, and as with any movie in the video game genre, some may say that the constant hunt for ‘Easter Eggs’ that this film demands could take away from its narrative. Free Guy, however, embraces this, using real-life YouTubers, streamers, and news anchors from across the globe to make audiences feel connected to the world this movie places them in. Free Guy also includes needle drops of iconic movie themes in one particular scene, in a move that makes you not quite as angry that Disney has a monopoly on the entire world.

It’s hard not to compare Free Guy with The Truman Show, and the film itself doesn’t shy away from that fact, even making obvious references to the 1998 Jim Carrey classic throughout. Other films may have chosen to avoid acknowledging parallels with iconic films that came before them, but Free Guy’s willingness to do the opposite makes it stand out.

If you took the time to delve into every frame, I’m sure you could find plenty of issues with Free Guy, but there are times in life when you need to take a step back and enjoy something for what it is. Free Guy isn’t a high-brow Oscar-bait-style movie, and it knows it. It’s a film designed purely to bring joy to cinemagoers. Maybe the success of this film is circumstantial, maybe audiences want a film about believing that there’s more to life than the situations we currently find ourselves in, especially after the past year. Whatever the case, Free Guy’s self-aware nature and its’ ability to leave Fantasy by Mariah Carey stuck in your head for days makes it one of the best surprises cinema has given us in recent years. 







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