Nine Days

Released 2020. Director: Edson Oda

WE'VE SEEN MOVIES CONTEMPLATING WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH, whether it’s some form of paradise or purgatory, whether departed souls can communicate with or even influence the actions of the living. But the other end of the journey is pretty neglected without much interest in speculating on what, if anything, happens before birth.

Nine Days, written and directed by Edson Oda, is a quasi-philosophical dive into a scenario where every birth is not a random lottery draw but an administrative decision with potential and purpose as part of the plan.

Winston Duke plays Will, whose job is to select the right candidates to be born. He lives alone in a small house on a beach, or maybe it’s a desert or a dry salt lake and spends his time watching a bank of TV monitors. On display are visions of everyday life as seen through the eyes of the living, mostly mundane, quotidian, day-to-day existence like someone’s home video. Will has a deep personal interest in what he observes because these are the people he’d sent to be born. He probably feels like a father watching how his kids are doing.

One of those whose lives he follows with particular interest is Amanda, a music prodigy destined for greatness until she dies in a car crash of apparent suicide. The event shakes Will to his core as he continues to search through Amanda’s past hoping to uncover the reason why she’d give up on a life of promise.

Now that a spot has opened up on Will’s watch, candidates start to arrive on his doorstep to be assessed. One might expect in a story like this the souls would be a blank canvas or fresh plaster to be moulded but no, each of them comes fully formed with their own personality, quirks and values. Will’s job is to interview them, set them tasks and evaluate their performances, assessing their sense of morals, attitudes and priorities over a course of nine days to decide which soul gets to be born. In a way, we see an unorthodox recruitment process with an HR manager for literally the job of your life.

Each of the candidates, as played by Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgard, Tony Hale, David Rysdahl and Arianna Ortiz, responds to Will’s tests in different ways. The distinct characters brought by the cast enrich the story, as we see how they view and respond to human experiences. Is there a right or wrong way to deal with life’s myriad challenges, confusions and contradictions? Each one of us manages our lives in our unique way. Likewise the souls in this story approach their hypothetical scenarios guided by their own nature. Will’s final choice is a subjective decision as he too is guided by his own prejudices and partiality.  

Amanda’s death, however, casts a dark cloud over Will’s judgment as he begins to doubt his ability to make the right call and blames himself for the girl’s death. Is Will right in thinking that had he not picked Amanda to be born all those years ago, she’d not have ended up this way? How much responsibility should we bear for the action of those closest to us?

The low-key approach to talk about some of life’s eternal big themes is mostly effective except that the movie is rather glum. Winston Duke brings a strong presence even though his overwhelming guilt complex is overdone and distancing, Benedict Wong plays the only other constant person in Will’s metaphysical world. Wong’s role as Will’s only friend, and one who dares to challenge him, helps the audience understand Will’s internal struggle to arrive at his final decision.

There’s no doubt Nine Days explores some interesting and unusual ideas, and offers surprising and original perspectives. What makes the story of the abstract pre-birth existence engaging is how Oda, who also wrote the screenplay, manages to raise philosophical and intellectual questions while steering away from overt religious themes despite the premise.

The overriding message is about the preciousness of life itself. Each one of the 8 billion of us “deserves” to be born, to live a real life, to have a chance at making it worthwhile not just for ourselves but others. Someone somewhere believes in the value you’ll bring, even before you were born. The question Nine Days doesn’t ask but inspires is whether we’re making the best use of our singular shot.  

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