In the real world, game developers Millie Rusk and Walter 'Keys' McKey previously created a concept game called Life Itself using a novel artificial intelligence technique for its NPCs. Unaware that the world they live in is a video game, Guy and the other NPCs are mostly oblivious to the chaos caused by players while living out their scripted lives. The players of Free City are distinguished from NPCs by the sunglasses they wear, and spend their time robbing banks, fighting each other, and causing mayhem. Guy is a non-player character (NPC) in Free City, a massively multiplayer online role-playing video game (MMORPG) developed by Soonami Studio. The film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 94th Academy Awards. The film received positive reviews from critics for the concept, comparing it to science fiction films and action video games such as Ready Player One, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Grand Theft Auto, and Fortnite. Following a year-long delay as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released theatrically in the United States three days later on August 13 in RealD 3D, IMAX, 4DX and Dolby Cinema formats by 20th Century Studios.

It tells the story of a bank teller who discovers that he is a non-player character in a massively multiplayer online game and partners with a player to find evidence that a gaming company's CEO stole the player's game's source code.ДЇree Guy premiered at the Piazza Grande section of the 74th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on August 10, 2021. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi. Free Guy is a 2021 American action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman.

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