For months, we kept the animated film “9” (2009) on the DVR. I kept telling myself that I’d sit down and watch it on the weekend, and inevitably being too distracted to do so. We came home a few nights ago and discovered the DVR had deleted several of the oldest recordings, including 9. That made me sad, because I really did intend on watching it soon. Kind of mad, I fired up Netflix and watched it that night.

A rag doll that awakens in a post-apocalyptic future holds the key to humanity’s salvation.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

9 is a visually beautiful film with a haunting story of survival and redemption but at only 79 minutes, I don’t know if it had enough time to fully develop the characters to their full potential.

My first reaction after watching was that I wanted to see it again. I want to get to know the characters more. Especially the ones that had the least screen time, like 2, who first discovers 9, but it whisked away in the jaws of the cat monster a short time later. Most of the story focuses on 9, the last of the dolls to awaken.

There’s a subtlety to the storytelling, I think, that I hope will come through more in rewatching. The story of humanity’s last chance of redemption, through the journey of its destroyer’s soul, split into tiny rag doll representations, is a delightful example of my favorite kind of genre story.

It’s not a perfect movie but it was enjoyable and made me think. I set out to Twitter immediately afterwards to find someone to talk to about it. That’s a win in my book, at least.