In the upcoming film Nine Days, Will (Black Panther‘s Winston Duke) sits in a lonely house, watching video feeds of people going about their lives. When one of them dies, it’s Will’s job to interview candidates to determine who will experience life. “If you are selected,” he explains, “you will be born in a fruitful environment where you can grow, develop, and accomplish.”
This is a very unusual job interview.
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The trailer is fairly mystifying, but early film festival reviews for Nine Days have been rapturous. After it screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Variety called it “that rare work of art that invites you to re-consider your entire worldview,” and at RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico wrote that the film was “one of the most unexpected experiences I’ve had in almost a decade of going to Sundance.”
The cast for director Edson Oda’s feature-film debut is outstanding, and includes Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Skarsgard (It), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), and Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange). Here’s the synopsis:
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.
Nine Days will arrive sometime in 2021, but a specific release date has not been announced.
