Plot Summary

The Nines is an unconventional and intellectually playful film composed of three interwoven segments, each presenting familiar faces in altered realities and shifting identities. Through these fragmented narratives, the film explores themes of perception, creation, control, and the fragile boundaries between fiction and reality.

In the first segment, “Prisoner,” troubled television star Gary (Ryan Reynolds) is sentenced to house arrest after a destructive outburst involving his ex-girlfriend’s belongings. Cut off from the outside world, his only connections are his publicist Margeret (Melissa McCarthy) and his withdrawn neighbor Sarah (Hope Davis). As a series of unsettling and inexplicable events unfold, Gary begins to suspect that the women around him may not be exactly who they appear to be.

The second segment, “Reality Show,” shifts perspective to the behind-the-scenes production of a television series, presented as an episode of a making-of program. Director Gavin Taylor (Ryan Reynolds) finds himself caught between his closest friend and lead actress Melissa (Melissa McCarthy) and network executive Susan Howard (Hope Davis), as creative tensions and personal relationships collide during post-production. The line between professional responsibility and emotional loyalty becomes increasingly blurred.

In the final segment, “Knowing,” video game designer Gabriel (Ryan Reynolds) and his wife Mary (Melissa McCarthy) are stranded in a forest after their car breaks down. When their young daughter uncovers a disturbing truth, the couple is forced into a decision that will irreversibly alter their understanding of reality and their place within it.

By reconfiguring the same actors into different roles across its three parts, The Nines functions as a cinematic puzzle—at times humorous, at times deeply unsettling. Rather than offering clear answers, the film invites the audience to ask a central question: how do the pieces fit together, and who—or what—is ultimately in control?