Nine Days(2021)

Sony Pictures Classics

R
Rated R for language
2h 4m
- Drama
- Fantasy

Release Date: Jul 30, 2021 | Limited

A reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Jul 30, 2021

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$15,700
Total US & Canada:
$694,849
Total International
$272,813
Total Worldwide:
$967,662

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Edson Oda
Director

Kate Geller

Gallery

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States,United Kingdom

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

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, 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 concerto, 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. The candidates are narrowed down to two: Emma and Kane. While Emma is carefree and sees the best in people, Kane is more pessimistic, recognizing the evil in the world and showing resolve to fight back against it. Despite Kyo recommending that Will picks Emma, he chooses Kane to be born. When Will offers Emma a last experience, she writes something down which Will says he can't do. Emma then declines a last experience and opts to walk across the desert until she disappears. Will later finds a note from Emma where she thanks him and explains she wrote happy memories she had during the interview process; Will finds them written all over the house. Feeling regret, he runs across the desert after Emma and passionately recites selections from Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, then thanks her.

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.