AFI Film Festival,  Coming Attractions,  entertainment,  Film Festivals,  Film Reviews

Nine Days is an Oddly Brilliant Look into Our Souls

What would you do if you awoke one day and were given the opportunity to be completely reborn?  A chance to start from scratch without a past and embark upon a new adventure.  Winston Duke has proven with every cinematic step that his talent is boundless.  In his latest role as Will, a recluse obsessed with interviewing and monitoring the activities of a few dozen humans via a wall of vintage TVs. Each person live-streamed on these monitors are inhabited by a soul Will has singled out years earlier. When one dies, it’s his job to choose the next soul to be born.

Written and directed by Edson Oda in his directorial debut, Nine Days will make you contemplate your existence in this world and how you view it.  Sprinkling characters throughout that try to break Will’s cynical outlook are a most interestingly complex cast of characters – each with their own idiosyncrasies.From the romantic Maria  (Arianna Ortiz), practical Kane (Bill Skarsgård),  the epicurean (Tony Hale) and Mike (David Rysdahl), who sees himself as a victim . But, the one who seems to penetrate and break through all that cynicism is Emma (Zazie Beetz), as she is the one soul who has never stepped out onto the earth.

The final scene between Beetz and Duke,  where he spouts very Shakesperean dialogue is the stuff stars are made of and is a sight to behold.  Beetz as Emma has that pixie-ish type of  feminine wiles that makes her beguiling, captivating and equally bright in her performance.

Dan Hermansen’s Production Design is simple, yet effective resembling the vast land of salt one would capture while driving cross country through the state of Utah and passing through Salt Lake.  For me, it resembles a clean slate ready to be tainted or redesigned.  Nine Days in an oddly, captivating sci-fi drama that questions where souls come from, where do they go and how do they stay grounded.

Produced by Sony Pictures Classics Nine Days opens in New York and LA in theatres on July  30th with a nationwide release scheduled for August 6th

 

I love, love love movies, watching them and discussing them...thus the birth of The Curvy Film Critic!!! Host/Producer/FilmCritic,Carla Renata is a member of such esteemed organizations as Critics Choice Association (Co-President Documentary Branch), African American Film Critics Association, Online Association of Female Film Critics and Alliance of Women Film Journalists. My op-eds or features have been seen in VARIETY, RogerEbert.com, Maltin on Movies, The Cherry Picks, IGN Movies, as well as being a frequent Guest Contributor to Fox 11-LA, Good Day LA, ET Live!, Turner Classic Movies, KCRW Press Play with Madeline Brand, The Cherry Picks, The Stream Team (Beond TV) ITV, Fox Soul's The Black Report, The ListTV and more. Catch my reviews on The Curvy Critic with Carla Renata - LIVE!!! Sundays 5pm PST via You Tube or Facebook Live. If you like what you read please shout me out and subscribe to The Curvy Critic on YouTube. You can chat with me across all social media platforms @TheCurvyCritic and as always, thanks for supporting a sista'

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: