u/malchiik

seeing how friends react to movies you love is one of my fav pastimes, idk why

my pick is Ned from Our Idiot Brother

I know it's the point since he's the main character and because they picked Paul Rudd to play him, but this portrayal genuinely warms my heart every time he's on screen

I’ve been building a movie site called Return By 9 that started as a small private movie club and has slowly turned into a full public platform.

The main idea is pretty simple: instead of just adding another movie to a watchlist, you pick something, commit to watching it within a few days, then come back and leave your verdict. We call that a “rental,” but there’s no actual media or money involved.

Around that, I’ve built:

• personalized movie recommendations based on your taste
• Letterboxd import/sync
• curated shelves for browsing by vibe/theme
• a recommendation tool that helps you narrow down what to watch
• movie collectibles/rewards
• profiles, Top 8 movies, themes, and other community features

The whole site is styled like a late-90s video store website.

I’m at the point where I’ve been staring at it for way too long, so I’m specifically looking for people who can go through it as a completely new user and tell me where things are unclear or frustrating.

The things I’d most like feedback on are:

1. Do you understand what Return By 9 is when you first land on the site?
2. Is onboarding clear?
3. Does the “rental” concept make sense, or is it confusing?
4. Can you easily figure out how to find a movie?
5. Is anything about the navigation or terminology unclear?
6. Does the site feel fun enough that you’d actually come back and use it?

If you’re into movies and feel like poking around, I’d really appreciate the feedback.

https://returnby9.com

Happy to test other people’s projects in return too.

Regarding feedback, I'm good to talk through Reddit DM's but there's also a Discord link in the footer

About a year ago a friend and I started a small movie club mostly as an excuse to make each other finally watch things we’d been meaning to get around to forever.

The main gimmick was that instead of just adding something to a watchlist, you’d “rent” a movie. You pick something, give yourself a few days to watch it, then come back and “return” it with a rating or some thoughts.

No actual media or money is involved. It’s basically just a little commitment device, but it worked weirdly well for us.

I was learning Python at the time, so I made a Discord bot to keep track of everything. Then I kept adding things to it hehe

The core loop is still really simple:

pick something → commit to watching it → watch it → come back with a verdict

Around that there’s now personalized recommendations, Letterboxd import/sync, curated shelves for browsing by vibe or theme, a little digital “video store clerk” that can help narrow down what to watch, collectible items from movies, customizable profiles, Top 8s, themes, and a bunch of other little things we’ve had fun building.

plus whole thing is themed like a slightly questionable late-90s video store website.

The part I’m most curious about is whether the core idea makes sense to other movie people. I have no shortage of movies I want to watch, but I still somehow end up putting the same ones off for years. The commitment part is what actually changed that for me.

It’s still early and definitely a little rough around the edges, but if anyone wants to poke around I’d genuinely love to hear what works, what doesn’t, or what you’d want from something like this.

https://returnby9.com

Here are some screenies of it in action:

taste profile: https://ibb.co/rKhxkz6h
"explore" page, with recs based on your taste: https://ibb.co/DHMdgbTr
top 8: https://ibb.co/Fq67ZVgC
a shelf of movies for you: https://ibb.co/v6YjR1nw
sample profile page: https://ibb.co/RpVYt5gm
Brent in action: https://ibb.co/Vc4kzLnW https://ibb.co/Y7RsxhR4