Nine Days

Winston Duke in Nine Days

Edson Oda's Nine Days, his feature debut, is an absurdist fantasy that is somewhat rewarding. Winston Duke plays Will who resides in a ranch style bungalow on a salt flat somewhere on a different celestial plane than ours. Utah, where the film was shot, is suitably otherworldly. Will is a clerk for an unseen deity, selecting souls qualified for life on earth. Applicants are tested by Will over nine days, after which one is selected as the winner. 

Will monitors his selections once they reach earth by watching VHS tapes of their experiences and than filing them in a Kafkaesque room of cabinets. The selection process that Will chairs is a little like The British Baking Show or other reality show contests. Naturally, the two youngest, best looking and highest billed actors square off in the finals. Will tries to be gracious to the losers, but his job eats at him. A ponderous tone somewhat undermines the film, though Benedict Wong offers some needed comic relief as Will's sidekick. Oda handles the cast well, but Nine Days suffers from its overly abstract premise. At times, the film is as arid as its setting. Still, this is a promising start for its young director and writer.