Severe behind his wire-rimmed spectacles but more emotionally engaged than he would care to admit, Will (Winston Duke) bears a great responsibility. Over the course of a nine-day selection process he interviews prospective “souls”, all vying for a single opportunity – to be born and to embark upon a life on Earth. This inventive, daringly spiritual feature debut from Japanese Brazilian writer-director Edson Oda combines a Shyamalan-esque high concept with a dusty lo-fi aesthetic that calls to mind Being John Malkovich.
Will watches the lives of his selections unfold on VHS cassettes and a bank of portable televisions; the colour palette is heavy on 1950s municipal filing cabinet green. Pitted against Will – an individual slightly broken by his own experience of life – is Emma (a thrilling Zazie Beetz), an instinctively curious and empathic soul. With its score of spiralling, ascendant strings and a final scene that quotes Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, Nine Days is, in its subdued way, a profound and powerful commentary on life.