Mankind encounters AI beings for the first time when a highly sophisticated program leaves the digital world for a dangerous mission in the real world. A film by Joachim Rønning, starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges.

After Ed Dillinger was exposed as a fraud in the original TRON, and while Kevin Flynn was missing, Dillinger eventually founded Dillinger Systems. The software company shot to prominence in the early 1990s with its personal spreadsheet software and became ENCOM’s chief rival.

Sam Flynn retook control of ENCOM but later mysteriously retired. The CEO position passed to sisters Tess (Selene Yun) and Eve Kim (Greta Lee). By 2025, ENCOM and Dillinger Systems are locked in fierce competition to dominate the industry. Both companies have developed technology that can bring digital objects from the Grid into the real world, but there’s a catch. These objects only last 29 minutes before disintegrating and needing to be recreated.

After Tess’s death, Eve becomes determined to find the Permanence Code and finish her sister’s work. Meanwhile, Ed Dillinger’s grandson Julian (Evan Peters) now runs Dillinger Systems. He’s created the Master Control Program called Ares (Jared Leto), training it through countless simulations before bringing it into the real world as an expendable super soldier. Julian wants to sell the program and Grid weaponry to the military. But because of the 29-minute limit, he’s also hunting for the Permanence Code, which could allow digital lifeforms to exist indefinitely in the real world.

Julian impresses military personnel and private investors by demonstrating Dillinger Systems’ Amphibious Rapid-Response Tank (DART), a full-scale war tank that can be manufactured in just five minutes using Dillinger’s patented laser technology. He also presents Ares, describing him as the most advanced security program ever created, possessing extraordinary strength, incredible speed, and superior intelligence. Julian stresses that Ares is the perfect soldier precisely because he’s expendable. If Ares falls in combat, he can be instantly recreated. Shortly after the guests leave, both Ares and the DART disintegrate.

Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson), Julian’s mother and former CEO of Dillinger Systems, confronts him. She points out that he deliberately omitted the fact that nothing transferred from the Grid can exist in the real world for more than 29 minutes. She remarks that deceiving investors isn’t a viable business model. Julian fires back that whoever gets the Permanence Code first will own the future. Elisabeth warns him that the board will only support him for another six months. If he fails to secure the Permanence Code by then, everything they’ve built over the past 40 years will be lost.

Meanwhile, Eve and her colleague Seth Flores (Arturo Castro) have been searching through Kevin Flynn’s remote station near Skagway, Alaska for the past three months. They believe the Permanence Code is hidden somewhere in Flynn’s ancient computer or among thousands of old floppy disks.

Eve discovers the Permanence Code and puts it to the test. They run an experiment on an orange tree transferred from the Grid to see if it can survive beyond the 29-minute limit. The code works. The tree doesn’t disintegrate after 29 minutes and keeps existing, apparently forever. Eve feels like she’s finally fulfilled her sister’s dream of improving the human condition. With the Permanence Code, they could create organic material from nothing, grow crops in regions devastated by climate change, manufacture life-saving drugs, and generate alternative fuels. The possibilities are endless.

Despite Elisabeth’s protest that it’s too risky, Julian hacks into ENCOM’s server. He’s convinced Eve Kim is following in her sister’s footsteps searching for the Permanence Code. Julian deploys Ares into the system along with his second-in-command Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Caius (Cameron Monaghan). Their mission is to steal Eve Kim’s file so he can track her down. As they fight their way out through ENCOM’s security programs, Caius takes damage. Athena declares him dysfunctional and orders Ares to leave him behind. Ares refuses and rescues Caius anyway, directly violating his programming. As they’re escaping, Julian nukes the ENCOM server, wiping out everything, including Ares, Caius, and Athena.

Back in Dillinger Systems’ Grid, where the programs are being restored, Ares asks Julian why Caius wasn’t brought back. Julian explains that Caius was dysfunctional and had to be deleted. (This sounds illogical given that Julian bragged earlier about the programs being completely expendable and easy to recreate after being damaged or destroyed in the real world, suggesting he keeps backup copies of all of them.) Julian warns Ares that any program that strays from its directive will be deleted. Then he gives Ares his next mission: find Eve Kim.

ENCOM’s CTO Ajay Singh (Hasan Minhaj) calls Eve to report a brute force attack that took down their servers right in the middle of their biggest product launch in years. He suspects Julian was behind it but has no proof. When Eve tells him she found the Permanence Code and is heading back to ENCOM, Ajay realizes the danger. If Julian knows Eve has the Code, there’s nothing he won’t do to take it from her.

Ares studies Eve’s file and discovers information about her past, including her sister’s death from glioblastoma. He finds an aviation company named Salt Creek Shores registered under Eve and Tess Kim, which leads him to the private jet Eve travels on. Tracking the flight path, he traces it back to Skagway, Alaska. He quickly scans the area and spots an anomaly: a mature navel orange tree that was created just four hours ago. Ares realizes Eve has found the Permanence Code and relays his discovery to Julian.

Julian brings Ares and Athena into the real world, along with Light Cycles from the Grid, and orders them to capture Eve Kim and bring her back within 29 minutes. The mission fails when Eve manages to steal Athena’s Light Cycle and escape. Ares chases her through the city until his time runs out and he disintegrates. (I thought they were supposed to be superior beings, yet they can’t capture one woman?)

Eve destroys the thumb drive containing the Permanence Code to keep it out of Dillinger’s hands. But Julian has a backup plan. He transports Eve into Dillinger Systems’ Grid where he holds her captive, planning to extract the Code directly from her memory.

Inside the Grid, Eve tries to convince Ares and Athena that she doesn’t have the Code because she already destroyed the drive. Ares explains that the Code is inside her whether she remembers it or not. If she’s seen it, they can extract it from her. A Grid Tech (Leigh Dickson) interrupts to report that Eve’s disc is showing signs of instability. Another Grid Tech (Cameron Park) confirms that extracting the Code could cause the carrier to de-res. Following her directive, Athena orders them to proceed with the extraction anyway. Ares intervenes. He insists they need to contact Julian about the situation and let him decide.

When Ares confirms that Eve will be permanently erased without any trace of her existence on the Grid if she de-res, Julian orders him to extract the Code and delete her. Ares continues to question the decision. Julian snaps back that if Ares disobeys his directive, he’ll find whatever PEBKAC error exists in his code and rip it out. (In this scene, I don’t understand why Julian is so emotionally enraged that he’s shouting during his conversation with Ares, yet his terminal apparently isn’t voice-activated and he doesn’t have a microphone. He still has to type out his responses on a touchscreen keyboard.)

Back with the others, Ares lies to Athena, claiming the Creator is unavailable and they need to wait for further instruction. Athena senses something’s off and contacts Julian herself, reporting that the Master Control Program appears to be malfunctioning. Realizing Ares has defied him, Julian orders Athena to extract the Code and delete both Ares and Eve. Anything that threatens the directive must be eliminated.

Ares helps Eve escape from the Grid in exchange for the Permanence Code. He wants it for himself because he wants to live. Ares tells Eve that he disobeyed his directive, which was to extract the Code from her disc and delete her. Athena assumes command and orders the other programs to terminate Ares and recapture Eve. Ares and Eve make their way toward the Transfer Portal, which is still open, while being chased by autonomous drones

Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning and written by Jesse Wigutow from a story by Wigutow and David DiGilio, TRON: Ares is the third film in TRON franchise. Set after the events of TRON: Legacy, it doesn’t directly continue that story.

While the cinematography and set design are visually stunning (though not quite as brilliant as TRON: Legacy), the narrative struggles to stay focused. There are too many side characters who appear without proper introductions or backstories, and none of them connect to the first two TRON films. The one exception is Jeff Bridges returning as Kevin Flynn, though he’s not actually the original Kevin Flynn, who presumably died in TRON: Legacy. Instead, he’s a backup of Flynn’s consciousness, essentially a ghost in the machine.

Evan Peters delivers an exceptional performance as Julian Dillinger, a man determined to win at any cost. He’s willing to break laws and doesn’t even flinch when ordering someone’s murder to achieve his goals. He’s easily the most interesting character in the film, and I wish he had more screen time. A deeper dive into his background could have made the film far more memorable.

Greta Lee is a good actress, but her character feels too shallow. There isn’t much she can do with the role, and what we see is probably the best she could manage with the material she was given. The film never really explains how she became CEO of ENCOM. We learn that her deceased sister was talented, but we never find out if Eve is equally capable.

Jodie Turner-Smith is amazing as Athena, the film’s antagonist. She’s ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes to follow her directive, destroying everything and everyone who stands in her way. However, the film fails to explain how she manages to override Dillinger’s system and open a portal to the real world from inside the Grid, when it’s supposed to only open from the real world side.

I know the TRON project was revived primarily because of Jared Leto’s pitch after Disney cancelled TRON: Ascension in 2015, which would have been a direct sequel to TRON: Legacy. But taking the story in a completely new direction proved too ambitious for a 109-minute runtime. It could have worked with a more developed script that properly introduced key characters and explored their backstories. Unfortunately, we’ll never know what might have been, since the film flopped at the box office.

There’s also no real risk or stakes involved in finding the Permanence Code. Ares simply ventures into the original Grid on a backup server, encounters a construct of Kevin Flynn who asks him a few questions, and then just hands over the Code. Where’s the challenge in that?

TRON: Ares premiered in Los Angeles on 6 October 2025. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 10 October.