Are you worthy? That is a question that ricochets through Will’s mind daily. Winston Duke (Us) is Will in Nine Days, a film that is pure auteur. That artist is Edson Oda, who makes his big-screen debut as a screenwriter and as a director. His film is both vast in scope and intimate in delivery.
Will spends the titular time period determining whether a handful of candidates will score the singular spot of being born. Among them are Emma (Zazie Beetz, Deadpool 2), Alexander (Tony Hale), and Kane (Bill Skarsgård, It and It Chapter Two). Helping Will is Kyo (Benedict Wong, Doctor Strange, Annihilation), who after witnessing Nine Days, cannot imagine anyone else portraying Kyo. That’s the ultimate compliment for an actor.
Our lead keeps an eye on lives he’s approved via POV (Point of View) TVs. When one ends, it means he now has an open spot he must fill. Someone has passed away. The candidates randomly show up at his remote home to all be considered for that fateful opening. They mingle around his home, sit down for interviews with Will, and generally are raw and real. They are completely themselves.
Things are going well and have been going well for Will, but the arrival of Beetz’s Emma has him reckoning with his past and questioning his present and future.
Nine Days illustrates once again why film is a director’s medium. The film is completely a vision movie and says much with little. Oda has made an announcement with his first big-screen full-length film. One can see why someone, somewhere, greenlit this motion picture and told the filmmaker to go make the movie exactly as he envisioned it—anything less would be a crime.
There is so much to think about that he has also delivered one of those rare motion pictures that stays with you, long after experiencing it. I actually witnessed Nine Days a few weeks ago and its feel, messages, and the story itself have remained with me ever since.
A director once said that “90-percent of my job is casting.” For Oda, that had to be a huge aspect of bringing his vision to life. He needed actors who bought into what he was going for and did he ever get that from this top-shelf ensemble.
Leading the charge is Duke. He continues to impress with each successive role. One can sense the depth of his commitment to embodying Will—not only as Oda saw him, but as he as the actor brought him to life. His character is not only the heart of this motion picture. He is the lungs too. Will breathes life into Nine Days from his first moments onscreen and what could have been a one-note performance is as layered as they come. Here’s this guy who is determining who gets a shot at life and also someone who monitors how his charges have used this gift. Now, over time those life choices will weigh on the person who was behind them getting a life. That comes through with Duke’s Will and dare I say, it even comes out of his pores.
Duke is visibly affected by these “candidates” that now inhabit his living (and working) space. Each has a way of imprinting on him, even if they do not get selected. That is especially true with Beetz’s Emma. The actress, who was the best thing in the supremely awesome Deadpool 2, adds something intangible to the film from the moment she arrives. She absolutely knows who she is, even if it is essentially a blank slate, thanks to Beetz’s riveting turn. The actress makes some interesting choices, particularly in her scenes with Duke.
It’s not even about the rich chemistry between the two performers. In this case with Oda’s film, it is much more about how someone like Emma can spur Will to alter his views on a myriad of subjects.
Hale is, frankly, delightful. There is something about his performance that is innocence meets live every moment keenly knowing that laughter is a big part of happiness. It is a complicated turn and one that Oda needed an actor of Hale’s mettle (and history) to truly capture what he put on the page.
Skarsgard, on the other hand, is a (potential) soul filled with mystery that intrigues Will, yet at the same time—thanks to the It actor’s talents—feels from the outside as if he could be telling the gatekeeper exactly what he wants to hear.
Nine Days likely has reserved its spot on The Movie Mensch’s Top 21 of 2021. Now, there are still some heavy hitters to come down the pike. But it is films like Oda’s (and Pig out last week) that have reaffirmed my hope that the institution that is the filmmaking community still has something important to say and they do so in the most unique and resonant ways.
Grade: A+