Few feature-film debuts have proven to be as impressive and promising of a great talent as has Nine Days by filmmaker Edson Oda.
Nestled within a lone house amidst a desolate landscape, lives a man, Will (Winston Duke), who spends his days literally monitoring several people going about their lives on a number of television screens whereon these lives are played out as first-person narratives. When one of these subjects suddenly passes away, Will begins interviewing several people to determine which of them will be afforded the chance to be born into the world thereby taking the place of the soul that was lost.
Writer/director Oda, makes a startling and ambitious feature-film debut after producing a number of award-winning short films. This proves to be one of those rare films that allows itself to unfold gradually, almost effortlessly, rather than bombard you with purpose and intent from the beginning. As a result, the emotional impact it imparts is far more potent than it would have been otherwise. Oda proves to be not only a gifted storyteller here, but a striking visual artist as well as his depiction of the soul waystation is both familiar and hauntingly obtuse. There is an elegance at work here as the story plays out. You may find yourself thinking you know where it is headed and, even if you are correct, you probably won’t be prepared for the emotional impact it ultimately has.
Zazie Beetz and Winston Duke in “Nine Days.” © Wyatt Garfield, Nine Days 5, LLC.
As Will, Duke is the centerpiece of the film and he carries it well. Throughout, we are given various elements about his past as he proves to be far more complex and human than initially perceived. Will’s confidant, and co-worker of sorts, Kyo (played by Benedict Wong) proves to be the perfect emotional counterpart to Will’s more logical, matter-of-fact character. As the souls Will is interviewing, all of the players are superb, though standouts do include Zazie Beetz (as Emma) and Tony Hale (as Alexander).
Dan Hermansen’s production design creates a world that is simultaneously otherworldly yet strikingly familiar which proves to be the crux of the success of the entire endeavor as there is something so complex (yet simple) about this film that you may feel it speaking to you emotionally in ways that transcend the experience of simply watching a film. Combined with a haunting score by Antonio Pinto and Oda’s impressive debut portends of even greater things to come from such a gifted artist.
Although some may be hesitant to initially entertain a film with such a seemingly obtuse concept, Nine Days will reward anyone who does so with one of the best films of the year.
| Producer: | Jason Michael Berman, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Matthew Linder, Laura Tunstall, Datari Turner |
| Release Date: | August 6, 2021 (in the metro-Detroit area) |
| Running Time: | 124 minutes |
| Starring: | Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgård, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, Geraldine Hughes, David Rysdahl, Arianna Ortiz |
| Writer: | Edson Oda |
| MPAA Rating: | R (for language) |
| Director: | Edson Oda |
| Distributor: | Sony Pictures Classics |
| External Info: | Official Site / Facebook / Instagram |
