User reviews

This movie is not just a movie, is a poem that unfolds throughout the time runtime of the film. We get to sort of see how possibly "god" works and how the existence of one individual can still continue beyond this realm. It feels like a warm dream, that could turn into a nightmare at any moment but it never does. You just fall in love deeper and deeper with whatever is happening in this dimension. It never fully answers anything nor does it try to explain the questions that is "trying" to answer but the end result leaves you wanting more.

I rated this a good 7/10 upon first watching. An already great note. But after watching this again today and paying much more attention to its small details, I have to admit Iiked it even more. It deserves a little more remarkable mark. A solid character driven drama. I hope to see more movies like this in time. Feels refreshing even if they are not that flawless. Go and see it!

If we're lucky, a couple of times a year we get a film that on face value may not appear to be anything truly special but upon watching casts a magical spell over willing viewers to create something noteworthy and memorable, in 2021 one of those such films is Edson Oda's moving debut feature Nine Days.

Much like the Nicolas Cage starring Pig from this year, a film that managed to become much more than just another Nicolas Cage film or a budget Taken with hooves, the Spike Jonze produced Nine Days for all intents and purposes seems like a small film that could be a nice way to pass some time but from the moment Oda's beautifully constructed fantasy drama begins, there's a sense that you're in for something outside of the normal, something unique and something that feeds the soul within.

Following Winston Duke's (never better than he is here as a broken but kind hearted man) reclusive and softly spoken Will as he goes about his job monitoring people's lives on small TV screens in front of him and interviewing prospective souls for vacant positions to become a living breathing human, Nine Days concept may ask viewers to give up their prejudices but for anyone willing to go along with Oda's ode to what it means to be human and the gift that is everyday living, this unique and touching experience may just be the type of film that continues to linger on in your memory and even change the way you view your own human experience.

Shot with a keen eye by cinematographer Wyatt Garfield and scored with grace by famed composer Antonio Pinto, Nine Days is a complete all round feature package lead by Oda's impressively refined direction and a collection of great performances from Duke, the radiant Zazie Beetz as prospective human Emma, Benedict Wong as Will's only real friend Kyo and some nice little supporting turns from Bill Skarsgård an Tony Hale as some of the other souls Will must choose as worthy to be gifted life in the world we call our own.

We're never told exactly where Nine Days takes place or why things are as they are (particularly why VHS tapes seem to be the go to for Will's job) but really none of that matters as the joys you will discover when watching Oda's film and the learnings both his characters and we as viewers have through the films constantly engaging run time ensure that this is a gripping, moving and heartwarming tale filled with some of the most affectionate and touching material you could hope to find in a film.

Final Say -

A wonderful debut from Edson Oda who has marked himself down as a director of note with his efforts here, Nine Days is an unforgettable little film about the big things. Providing a beautiful viewer experience, Nine Days is one of 2021's best and a film deserving to be discovered by a bigger audience than it was afforded upon release.

5 bike rides out of 5.

The title Nine Days makes me think of a cat's nine lives or Beethoven's ninth-symphonic celebration of life. Anyhow, the Brazilian-born, US-based writer director Edson Oda has a terrific Terrance-Malick-like ode to life with an imaginative sci-fi indie that takes us to where no artist has ever gone.

Somewhere in a limbo-like desert a few souls not yet born but in human form try out in front of Will (Winston Duke), who will decide which one deserves to be human. Among them are a sybarite Alexander (Tony Hale), a perpetually-feeling-victimized candidate, Mike (David Rysdahl), and a rationalist (Bill Skarsgard). Best of all is the free spirit Emma (Zazie Beetz), whom Will can't understand until later on in the days.

Although they are learning about "real life" from multiple TV monitors from earth private lives, what they learn in these nine testing days is all they need to know about what it means to be human. Will's baggage from real life is instructive about the vicissitudes of life and the attendant longing for permanent love.

Because the candidates are regularly asked to document the grace moments of their short lives (e.g., laughing with someone, letting sand sift through fingers), they provide us with the paradigm for a happy life: enjoy the small things. Oda even uses Whitman's lyrical celebration of himself to capture this carpe diem attitude.

As I left the theater in high spirits, I was ultra-happy to have won a spot in life thinking how difficult Oda made candidacy for his purgatory-like suffering souls. I celebrated the small things of life as well as myself.

Nine Days is an inspirational film with enough suspense and new ideas to satisfy a wide spectrum of audiences.

See it and love life. At Gateway and several theaters.

This film may be overrated because most of the earlier ratings / reviews are from indie film fans, who saw it at Sundance or other film festivals.

An isolated house in the desert serves as a selection point for pre-born souls to be tested, and, if found worthy, allowed to be born to full human life. The gatekeeper is Will, a post-life being, assisted by Kyo, a pre-life being who somehow escaped the candidates' fate of oblivion. The candidates are shown as adult humans, both male and female, vying for one position. The process takes up to nine days (hence the title).

For most of the time, the candidates watch a bank of TVs in the TV room, of actual lives of living people, from those subjects' point of view. This seems to happen in parallel universes, as they never seem to meet until they are the "final two". Unsuccessful applicants get a chance to live a simulated moment from their viewing.

There are two sub-plots. One is the fate of a violinist Will had selected earlier, whose life Will is carefully following. The other is the mystery of Will himself, as he refuses to talk about his own human life.

As per many indie films, the writer / director wants us to ponder their point - in this case, where do souls come from? However, I tend to find a lot of loose ends, and have already tried to tie one up by hypothesizing simultaneous parallel universes. Where to the applicants go at night? Why does a sandbox need to be sanded down? Etc.

After seeing this movie at Sundance, I made my way up to the stage so that I could shake Edson Oda's hand. I had to do it because I felt like I was going up to shake Orson Welles's hand after watching "Citizen Kane." I told him I had watched movies all my life and I believed this was the best movie I had ever seen. He looked shocked by that comment but thanked me. He hasn't been around long enough to be arrogant and condescending, I guess. Obviously, Nine Days strikes different people differently. I enthusiastically encourage you to see this movie to find out how it strikes you and I can only hope you have the exquisite experience it was for me. I am absolutely certain that Mr. Oda has created a masterpiece that will be much more highly respected in the future. I can hardly wait to see his future creations but, if he never makes another, he will have accomplished a life's work with this one.

The synopsis of this film really piqued my interest, as I'm very much into philosophical stories with supernatural or sci-fi elements. Nine Days is no doubt a beautiful film in both visuals and sound, and the overall story is thoughtful and poignant.

I think where this film loses points is that it really sort of falls short when it comes to trying to evoke strong feelings from the audience like this sort of story should. The main character was a bit dull with a blank stare throughout most of the runtime, and I just didn't really care about him much by the end. It didn't really try to go anywhere bold or unexpected with such an original premise.

Moreover, by the end you don't really get a satisfying conclusion, it sort of just drifts off. I won't say that the film is forgettable, but it could have been a lot better with a more polished script and a bit more investment in the main character. I appreciate the quality attempt though. 6.5/10.

This really rubbed me up the wrong way, on a matter of principle, because it's just too close to its source material, while adding nothing. This is 'After Life' by Kore-eda, my favourite film, only this 'visionary director' inversed the premise. Which ultimately makes little difference, it's still an exploration of what constitutes a meaningful existence on this earth.

It's beyond homage. Masquerading and marketing such plagiarism as a breathtakingly unique, original indie film (and fooling the press) is so much more insidious to me than the inevitably over-schmaltzified remake once-proposed in the 00s.

'Nine Days' takes the setup, the tone, the limbo setting, the bureaucratic elements, the interviews, the metaphysical questions, the down-to-earth quality, even the analogue VHS tapes and lovingly-crafted staged sendoffs. Even the minor plot developments were tonally the same. Zazie Beets and Benedict Wong are great, but performances become overwrought towards the end. The cinematography is beautiful. Yet in every aspect of actually feeling something, this pales in comparison to After Life. Much like when a knockoff design company changes a couple of small things on the product it's copying to avoid a lawsuit, but the final product isn't nearly as good as the original, this film doesn't provide anything approaching the quiet emotional resonance After Life does, instead descending into overwritten quasi-philosophical discussions which left me cold.

I don't mean to take the experience away from those who found it meaningful but it angered me most because I love cinema, I love unique voices, and I can't stand lauded frauds. When this guy's taking the Marvel money in a couple of years' time, Kore-eda will still be evolving his genuinely-authentic craft.

As you contemplate this film -- and you will -- is that is if all films were like this, had the same high standards of scripting, acting, direction, editing, then maybe the world itself would be different too.

Nine Days, a supernatural drama, revolves around Will, a man who interviews a number of unborn souls to determine which one will be given a chance at life. Working out of an almost completely isolated cabin, Will's codgy demeanor and unwillingness to truly connect with any of the candidates is starkly contrasted against the candidate's desperation to be selected for the grand prize. Each of these candidates represents a number of different facets within each of us: self doubt, empathy, resolve, the capacity to love, indifference and more. When Will's favorite previous candidate dies in a car accident, the interviews begin to find a replacement. This death impacts Will heavily throughout the film as he struggles to search for answers while attempting to keep himself and his professionalism in check.

The brilliance of the film lies in how Oda manages to create a high stakes/low tension film. While the story makes it plain that each soul in question is incredibly eager to be presented with this opportunity, their only interaction comes with Will, who remains emotionally distant from them. Because of this, any opportunities for the candidates to clash is removed and each individual is forced to move forward in the process based on personal merit. The main bits of tension come from Will and his coworker Kyo as Kyo endeavors to help Will recover after his previous candidate's death. Will's internal struggles and refusal to reflect upon himself while judging others is the starting point of a journey that culminates in a radiant breakthrough that ensures writer/director Edson Oda understands humanity in a way that few do.

The most beautiful moments in the movie come from rejected candidates and their requests to experience humanity in their final moments. These scenes radiate joy, awe, and wonder as Will and Kyo labor to create these moments for them. The direction, score, and cinematography all work congruent with the acting to produce an experience that is powerfully raw and emotional. These standout scenes, along with the final moments between Will and Emma are the crux of the film that emphasize the positive aspects of having a life worth living.

At the forefront of Nine Days is Winston Duke as Will, an arbiter who evaluates a number of souls with the intention of selecting one to inhabit a newborn body. Will is aloof, distant from his candidates as he simultaneously grapples with the death of one of his previous selections. Duke's performance as Will is masterful, barely containing the deep sorrow and rage within the character. Duke, at 6 feet 5 inches, appears as a giant lumbering inside his small abode, yet still conveys a gentleness and grace that belies his physical stature. When Duke is finally able to let loose his restrained emotions, the release is deeply satisfying, almost cathartic, which is a testament to his acumen. Zazie Beetz shines as Emma, an enigmatic soul who's curiosity about Will far outweighs her interest in being a potential candidate. Her portrayal of Emma is one of the highlights of the film, using her quiet, inquisitive demeanor to win over audiences and remind us time and again the inherent good in humanity as a whole. Bill Skarsgard as Kane, something of a foil to Emma, plays the character straight down the middle as a no-nonsense matter-of-fact soul that prefers to see life as it is, for all its flaws and evils. The pairing of Skarsgard and Beetz in the one scene they have together makes for wonderful chemistry and dramatic tension as opposite sides of the same coin. Will's co-worker Kyo, as played by Benedict Wong, is great addition to the cast, used to play off Will's stoic nature. Kyo is light and easygoing, and while not technically alive shows more humanity in his handful of minutes on screen than most of the candidates do.

Written and directed by Edson Oda, Nine Days is a strong feature debut from a person who has a lot to say. Previously a commercial director, Oda's transition to film offer's a fresh voice and unique outlook on life as each candidate interacts with Will. Even the ones who don't last long in the selection process are given care and development as Oda manages to create a cast of characters that reflect a cross section of everyday life. With a runtime of 124 minutes, the film flies by largely due to a solid story, great writing, captivating performances and expert editing. The production design is noteworthy as well, with the cramped interior of the small house clashing against the vast openness of the space outside. While Oda never fully explains the location or the semantics of what exactly is taking place, there's enough to infer and Oda lets the audience draw from their own beliefs to fill in the blanks.

Overall, Nine Days a beautiful movie that explores multiple facets of the human condition. Featuring career defining performances from both Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz, the film is an excellent counter to the bombastic blockbusters that normally dominate the summer. At times joyful and at other times somber, the film invites us to both examine and celebrate the gift of life and living while being careful not to preach to or overwhelm the audience. A brilliantly fresh approach to storytelling combined with clever minimalist filmmaking results in a project that will stick with the viewer long after the credits have ended. Nine Days hits theaters August 6th.

I desperately wanted to connect with this movie. The premise was so interesting and I knew that if done right it had the p[potential to be extremely powerful and tug at the heart-strings. It also had the potential to make you question the value of your existence. Unfortunately it did none of those things for me. I just couldn't connect with it. I kept waiting for it to find its rhythm and it just never did.

The film is well made. It's beautifully shot, there's some great dialogue and the acting is great. It can't be faulted in those ways. But none of that matters if you can't connect with your audience. When you read the synopsis for this film you know is going to be a unique and daring experience. Films like this take risks and even if they don't pay off they have to be admired.

I can't personally recommend this film because it was not for me. That's not to say that you won't find something in it though. In fact I'd love it if others could find in this film what I could not. Maybe I'll watch this film 10-15 years from now and find what I missed first time around. 5/10.

I had the pleasure of seeing this premier at the Sundance Film Festival and it was easily the best film seen. In fact, the past 6 years of attendance at the festival, there has rarely been a film that makes me walk out of the theater contemplating my own existence and the meaning of life in such a beautiful and profound way. The characters in this film are all so unique in that their presence on screen portrays a semblance of an emotion and personality that we all can connect with at some level. This film is certainly quite the emotional roller coaster as you are put into the perspective of each character as they strive for the chance to be born. Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Tony Hale....and the whole cast really give a performance of a lifetime and I commend them all of this outstanding achievement. That final scene though with Winston Duke....just WOW.

This film made me laugh, cry, ponder my own existence and beg for more. I am really looking forward to this once it is inevitably released in theaters or online, so that I can watch it again with my wife so that she can experience this beautifully orchestrated film.

This is a really "different" story and in the DVD extras we find the writer-director was inspired by a suicide in his own extended family. Not knowing anything else one might expect an environment of glass and white walls, images of beings dressed in long flowing robes, observing people via some form of advanced technology unknown to the real world.

Instead we see a person, once alive and named Will, in what seems to be an old house in the salt flats of Utah and observing people on 15 or 20 color TV sets from the 1980s. He takes notes and by the number of days in the notations some are approaching 30 years of age. Some lives are recorded on VHS tapes. Then something tragic happens and he must interview a number of souls to pick one to become a human on Earth. For those who are rejected it is the end of the line, they will never get another chance. The process will take nine days.

I'm not sure how to think of this story, perhaps best as an allegory of our own lives. How we go about our lives, how we make decisions, including decisions of morals. There is no question the movie makes one think and my wife and I enjoyed the almost 2 hours of viewing. However in reality is will be quickly forgotten.

At home on DVD from our public library.

I have a tendency to get emotionally invested in movies, so there have been some movies where I find myself holding back a tear at the end. Maybe I'll permit myself to shed a few.

No other movie has ever broken me down the way this one did. I couldn't restrain my tears.

I can see why some people might find it boring. There's no action. There's a lot of talking. Really, this movie is for a very select audience. It will probably never get the recognition it deserves because it won't have the marketing or mass appeal (although the number of masses it would appeal to may sadly be growing).

If you find yourself jaded, going day in day out without much excitement for the next, feeling like you're just going through the motions and not sure why you're doing it at all, and need to be reminded of the beauty in the world, the beauty that's all around you and you've forgotten where to find it, and of how very precious this life is, then this film is for you.

Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz are the leads in Nine Days and they are magnificent. Duke is Will and he is some sort of guardian angel who must select a person to be born as a replacement for a recently deceased person. The story is a bit confusing but it did cause me to reflect on the meaning of life. As a skeptical Catholic, I appreciated the intelligent and reflective script. The settings are good and I look for more from the two leads in the future.

I'm just a kid from Canada who blathers on about movies on Facebook, I have no formal literary training or real clout in the journalism foray, and as such every once in a moon there comes a film that's so good, so powerful, profound and so potentially life changing (what is cinema for, if not that?) that I feel it's a bit above my pay grade to review it, but in the case of Edson Oda's Nine Days I feel like I need to or you might miss this unbelievable, perspective shattering indie that seems to have come from nowhere but is here to rock our collective worlds and the lands beyond. The film presents to us a stoic, lone man called Will (Winston Duke, Us). Will lives in a rustic bungalow on a desolation of endless salt flats, and he sits in his house observing a wall of tube TV's all displaying various human lives unfold in hazy POV. He takes periodic notes, records some of these moments onto VHS tapes and catalogues them in droves of filing cabinets. He's visited by a colleague and advisor called Kyo (Benedict Wong, Annihilation, The Martian), and the two seem to be the only ones out there. It soon becomes clear that the people on the TV's are humans living their lives in this world, and that Will and Kyo are in some other plane of existence, their task being to observe those who are alive and when an opening appears, to interview/audition potential new souls for a chance to be born in our world. When, through a heartbreaking tragedy, an opening does show up Will invites several souls into his house for the interview process including a quiet, observant introvert (Bill Skarsgard, It), a gregarious good timer (Tony Hale) and a startlingly observant, intuitive soul called Emma (Zazie Beetz, Deadpool 2, Joker). Now, usually a premise like this in films would be played for satire or just... not taken completely seriously but somehow this very wild concept couldn't feel more down to earth in the hands of this creative team and, in hushed reverence, I believed every beat of it was happening for real. As Will interviews souls it becomes apparent that he is wounded from his time on earth in a way that is so deep and so painful that even these half formed human souls who aren't even full beings yet, can somehow intuitively sense it. This goes especially for Emma, who is like an unbelievably precocious child that just picks up on intangible things as a sort of gift. As the selection process unfolds and more souls are eliminated it becomes clear that Will has to fix something broken deep within his own psyche, and this is where the film becomes downright transcendent and also where I just don't feel qualified to properly convey the messages or themes, which are deep, dense and essential. It's a film about not taking your time alive as a human being for granted, because there are so many unborn souls who may never get a chance. Not only are the themes compelling and thought provoking, they are multilayered, meditatively introspective and just ambiguous enough to feel like a real and flawed system of beings interacting in a world beyond our own. Wong's wonderful character comments on the mysterious nature of both our existence and theirs and the aching existential wonder that any sort of being finds themselves in, the forces governing them always just out of reach. Duke and Beetz are unreasonably good here and if the Oscars ever took the time to recognize independent films they would both be front and centre, as would first time writer director Edson Oda (I simply CANNOT comprehending the fact that this is a feature debut, it's TOO assured) and composer Antonio Pinto who weaves an original score too beautiful for words, full of melancholic, celestial string passages and hypnotic, dreamlike beats in between. One reviewer I saw on IMDb said about this film, and I quote, "After 60 years of watching movies, I've finally found the best one." Well it's obviously all subjective and personally I could never pick a singular, definitive "best movie ever," the notion itself is redundant. However, I would consider Nine Days to be just about as close to perfection as one can get in the medium of film, that rare piece that just soars on every level and has the power to change lives. It's getting a limited theatrical run at the moment and if you notice it playing in your city please go, it's that one in a million film that lingers in your thoughts and dreams for a long time after, that elusive piece of art that doesn't just exist onscreen for two hours before fading, but rather lives on in the hearts and minds of those who see it and takes on a soul of its own. Masterpiece and the best film of the year so far.

6/10 - this film, which had a lot of potential and worked for plenty of people, explores really interesting territory (kind of a reverse Soul), but really dragged for the 2 hour runtime.

Look. I am a happy camper for existential blabbering-about, but this is a very artificial and pretentions nothing. Even if writer had good intentions, this "Ode to life" is a 2d infantile flop. It lacks in every possible aspect with exceptions in acting and rhythm. Ironically bcs author had so little to show he kind of reached the opposite goal he had.

A movie about life, about people, about who's better at living, who deserves living more than someone else.. ..about if that is even a valid question to ask.

About the small things that we give for granted but we cherish so much and don't even know, I cried a few times with those.. About failing, about being sad. About succeeding and being happy. All in one life, because that's what you get.

Really emotive, touching story, more for someone of certain age who's been wondering about these matters for a few years, now on my 40s.. Beautifully shot, beautifully performed.. Beautiful music!! That violin kept me emotional from beginning to end!!

I loved it, it's really a pleasure of a surprise and I'll be looking at this director closely to see what he does next.

I wonder how is the rating so average, I didn't want to read other reviews so I write mine with all the love I feel for this movie now, will have a look now, but how..?

I always think when a movie starts in a very good and unique way on how the director will finish it. Will s/he have enough courage and fantasy to take the quality until the end and overawe the audience.

This unfortunately did not happen with this movie. It's a waste of time and opportunity. Such a a waste on talents.. endless and pointless.

It is an unfortunate.

Grabbing anything and everything mundane to push through the scope of existential confusion to hopefully mold something deeply asthestic to make sense to the judge, jury and executioner and finally be chosen to live as an entity in the real world instead of just told to be a maze hog moping aimlessly for 9 days as a insignificant metaphysical still born before vaporizing post into one's wet dream consummation. Geez. Even I myself can't believe I actually went to the deep end black hole of nothing to review something that meant nothing. This movie could appeal to those who seek to see or interpret on what the movie tried to project as an avant garden art house mumbo jumbo, but enough, stop, they had me at.. Day one. Waste of good actors in a convulated script.