Nine Days (2020)

Nine Days (2020). Nine Days: Directed by Edson Oda. With Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale. A reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.

“u0026quot;You are all being considered for the amazing opportunity of life.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m speechless. This is what cinema should aspire to be. Nine Days tells the story of a reclusive man that conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born. Though it hasnu0026#39;t come out yet, the synopsis sounds very similar to the upcoming Pixar movie Soul. And it may be true that theyu0026#39;re going for the same themes and emotion, but we wont know until Soul comes to Disney+. Nine Days strives to be something great even though itu0026#39;s independent and is limited by what it can do. They surprised greatness. This is truly brilliant. Writing and director Edson Oda took this idea and made the most of it through the writing, imagery, score, acting, and just the overall thought that goes into it. Everything is planned out for a reason.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFirstly, the screenplay is just remarkable. The idea is already interesting and they way it gets in your head is great. Iu0026#39;m a sucker for thought provoking films and other mediums so I may be a little bias. Beyond the story, though, the dialogue furthers this. Itu0026#39;s clever, sentimental, and just so human. Thatu0026#39;s what it goes for. To be human is one of the most questioned things to a person. Thereu0026#39;s no right or wrong answer and it depends on each person. The way they explore this just fascinates me. The souls and the man watch the lives of humans via tv screens. They study these people to try and better understand what it means. At that point, I knew I was going to love the execution of everything. Describing the story and screenplay is hard without giving anything away and just what it all explores. All you need to know is every scene has the best writing that it possibly could and the ending scene is one of the best scenes Iu0026#39;ve seen in my lifetime.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBranching off of scenes, the acting is fantastic. Even with the lesser known actors, itu0026#39;s still a stacked cast including big names of Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, and Bill Skarsgård. Iu0026#39;d like to focus on two. The rise of Winston Duke is so interesting to me. His first film was Black Panther and ever since that heu0026#39;s become a household name. Not just because heu0026#39;s Mu0026#39;Baku in the MCU and the dad in Us, but because heu0026#39;s such a great actor. Heu0026#39;s grown increasingly better with each role (even though he was already great in his first) and this is his best. Dukeu0026#39;s character is the most distant from the others but he feels the closest to the audience for reasons that I wonu0026#39;t go into. I mentioned the last scene earlier, but my jaw dropped because of his acting (and also just everything). I really want him to get recognized for big awards but Iu0026#39;m not so certain that it will happen. In a few month we might know. Continuing with rising actors, Zazie Beetz is just fantastic. She has a big role with her character. The dialogue and just her character in general brings the most provoking thoughts. As her character progresses, these questions and morals about being human increase. I loved her in every scene, especially with Winton Duke and Benedict Wong. And once again, the last scene brings so much. There really isnu0026#39;t a single mediocre performance. The ensemble does a great job and the casting couldnu0026#39;t be any better.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEdson Oda takes a most outstanding direction. That comes down to these certain scenes that Iu0026#39;d rather not spoil. With a limited budget and all that, he goes to more practical solutions. Part of that is using a stage, set, and props. Itu0026#39;s so beautiful what they did. The experience feels so real. The utilization of blocking and the use of the stage leaves me without words. If I was given this project or anyone else for that matter, I highly doubt we couldu0026#39;ve come up with the same idea that Oda did. Iu0026#39;m going to keep coming back to the same word, but itu0026#39;s just so amazing. And itu0026#39;s clearly shown that heu0026#39;s a stickler for visuals. Everything is done visually. The display itself tells a story. So he uses the stage, the old CRT TVs, and projectors. Red, blue, and green are the main colors of influence throughout. Using your art class knowledge, thatu0026#39;s just a smart decision to use those. The cinematography brings out those colors at certain times, but also brings out the more pale, subtle colors. The ending scene (once again) has a beautiful sunset thatu0026#39;s amazingly shot. The colors of the sky next to the one color of the desert setting looks great together.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNine Days is a nearly perfect film. If I had one minor issues, itu0026#39;s that the beginning is just a tad bit slow. This might change upon next viewing and prove to be a perfect film. For now Iu0026#39;m going to keep that in mind. I just canu0026#39;t express this film in words. Like the film, the visuals tell it all. Iu0026#39;d love to see this get awards buzz but Iu0026#39;m not exactly sure if it will happen. If it does I donu0026#39;t think it will be discussed until its release in early next year (I believe). This was probably a confusing and painful review to read, but I have one thing to say: Thank you.”