Taglines: Life Begins at the End.
Nine Days Movie Storyline. Will (Winston Duke) spends his days in a remote outpost watching the live Point of View (POV) on TV’s of people going about their lives, until one subject perishes, leaving a vacancy for a new life on earth. Soon, several candidates – unborn souls – arrive at Will’s to undergo tests determining their fitness, facing oblivion when they are deemed unsuitable. But Will soon faces his own existential challenge in the form of free-spirited Emma (Zazie Beetz), a candidate who is not like the others, forcing him to turn within and reckon with his own tumultuous past.
Fueled by unexpected power, he discovers a bold new path forward in his own life. Making his feature-film debut after a series of highly acclaimed and award-winning short films and music videos, Japanese Brazilian director Edson Oda delivers a heartfelt and meditative vision of human souls in limbo, aching to be born against unimaginable odds, yet hindered by forces beyond their will.
Nine Days is an upcoming American supernatural drama film written and directed by Edson Oda. It stars Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, and Bill Skarsgård. Spike Jonze serves as an executive producer. In the film, a man interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on Earth.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020. Shortly after, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film. It was previously scheduled for January 22, 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is scheduled to be released in a limited release in the United States on July 30, 2021, prior to a wide release on August 6, 2021.[11] The film was first released in Australia on July 15.
About the Story
Will is an arbiter who judges souls before they inhabit bodies in the living. He lives in an isolated house in the middle of a desert scape, interviewing candidate souls for the opportunity to be born; if they are not selected, Will gives them a parting memory before their existence is erased. His only company is Kyo, a soul who did not disappear, and has since assisted in Will’s interviews. Will spends his days watching and taking notes on a multitude of television screens, each displaying the life of a different individual that Will has previously selected. His favorite is Amanda, a 28-year-old violin prodigy. However, on her way to a large concierto, Amanda drives too fast on the highway and crashes into an overpass, killing her.
As Will grapples with Amanda’s death, candidates begin arriving to interview for the vacancy Amanda left behind – a process that will take nine days. He asks the candidates simple questions about life and has them take notes on what they like or dislike about the lives of others who were chosen. Will is particularly intrigued by Emma, who displays heightened empathy and curiosity despite showing little interest in the selection process. Over the course of the nine days, most of the candidates are dismissed for various reasons, such as self-consciousness and lack of respect for suffering. Will does his best to recreate life events for the failed candidates, such as walking on the beach or bike-riding through a city, before the candidates disappear forever.
Kyo invites another nearby interviewer to meet with Will, as she had previously selected Amanda’s cousin for birth. She shows Will a tape shortly after Amanda’s death, which reveals that Amanda left behind a suicide note before her crash. Kyo attempts to help Will get over her death, but Will continues to watch tapes from her life, unable to understand why she did it.
Will has told Emma that he cannot tell her anything about his previous life, but in response to her showing concern for him, he now indicates that in his previous life he once gave a theater performance that made him feel alive, but never pursued his passion after that. He reacts angrily when another candidate, Alex, points out Will’s hypocrisy for judging people’s lives when he never did anything meaningful with his own life.
Nine Days (2021)
Directed by: Edson Oda
Starring: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, Bill Skarsgård, Erika Vasquez, Alvaro Cortez, Cherie Julander, Perry Smith, Sterlin English, Amy Brown, Arianna Ortiz
Screenplay by: Edson Oda
Production Design by: Dan Hermansen
Cinematography by: Wyatt Garfield
Film Editing by: Michael Taylor, Jeff Betancourt
Costume Design by: Fernando Rodriguez
Music by: Antonio Pinto
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: January 27, 2020 (Sundance), July 30, 2021 (United States)
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