The film is a creative exploration of the legacy of colonialism in contemporary Mexico, 500 years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

[10] A Spanish conquistador is forced to return to modern Mexico and bear witness to the stories of victims of today's violence.

Through surreal imagery and immersive storytelling, 499 explores the legacy of colonialism in contemporary Mexico, nearly five-hundred years after Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire.

[11] Director Jim Jarmusch wrote about the film "Rodrigo Reyes has created a strong, beautiful and disturbing film that seems to occupy a genre all its own... 499 deftly weaves brutality with tender beauty, and harsh reality with the realm of dreams.

[19] Bobby LePire of Film Threat calls it "a spellbinding movie anchored by a reliable performance by Eduardo San Juan Breña..."[20] Critic Carlos Aguilar reflects on the film as "a truly brilliant accomplishment of unconventional storytelling, form and theme coalesce to open a portal where textbook history becomes an active entity and clashes with the present for a forward-thinking exploration.