Nine Days: In Cinemas

You need to go and watch Nine Days. If you haven’t already seen the film, you need to stop reading this and go to your nearest cinema. Don’t read other reviews. Watch the trailer if you must. But just go watch it. 

I’ll begin with the superficial. The film is a home-run for first-time director Edson Oda, and has had hype behind it since it premiered at Sundance in January last year. It is technically perfect. The atmosphere, the production design, the cinematography, the pacing of the edit, the soundscape; all are flawless. Here are some choice stills…

Now onto some more substantive analysis. A few years ago I saw a show at Belvoir St Theatre called Every Brilliant Thing that affected me profoundly. I never thought I could replicate that experience. Nine Days has touched me in an almost identical way. The obscurity of the human soul and the concept of being alive have been looked at in many different ways across decades of film and theatre. Winston Duke’s character, Mike, brings with him the nihilistic, jaded perspective many of us may relate to as a result of the past year and a half. Whilst Mike is exaggeratedly so, the cracks in his forcibly numb demeanor are reminders that we cannot deny the innate effectiveness of pure human experiences. 

Such experiences are seen POV style in Mike’s “TV room”, as Mike trials candidates to determine which one shall be permitted to live on Earth. The screens form a montage of moments: sharing laughter, seeing family, bike-riding, cozy jumpers, the heartbreak of loss, weddings, birthdays, the smell of books, the wonder of travel. The list goes on, and is substantially cheesy, but necessarily so. Experiences are specific to the individual. Watching the film receptively, you’ll reflect upon the little moments in your own life. You’ll think about the small joys of your own experience and with renewed appreciation for the little things that make us human. 

Arguably, this film could not have come at a better time.