Nine Days

Sounding like the setup for a run-of-the-mill reality show, Nine Days features a handful of strangers who must coexist while their future potential is judged. But the stakes are higher and the drama is much more subdued, since the prize isn’t fame or fortune — it’s life.

This science-fiction slow-burn with an intriguing dystopian premise unpacks a lot of existential baggage, although the destination is worth the journey. A promising debut for Brazilian filmmaker Edson Oda as a thoughtful cinematic storyteller, the film also spotlights a deeply felt performance by Winston Duke (Black Panther).

He plays Will, a loner who operates a remote desert outpost where he spends most of his time scrutinizing live point-of-view video of souls he’s cleared to evolve into human form. When one of his proteges dies under tragic circumstances, it leaves an opening.

That leaves a new collection of five unborn souls under the auspices of Will and his considerably more upbeat assistant (Benedict Wong), each with nine days to impress enough to fill the vacancy through a series of cognitive and ethical tests, or else be exiled into oblivion.

Consumed by self-loathing, Will never smiles or laughs. He’s harshly judgmental yet also nurturing and compassionate, likely masking some sort of residual grief and regret. His outlook brightens after meeting one of his hopefuls (Zazie Beets) whose life-affirming and free-spirited attitude prompts him to reconcile with his own past.

In his first big-screen leading role, Duke’s understated portrayal generates sympathy for our mysteriously aloof and contemplative tour guide, about who secrets are inevitably revealed.

Aside from its timely themes — intentional or not — about isolation and mental health, the film’s ability to resonate more deeply pivots on your ability to buy into a provocative if contrived idea that agnostically examines incarnation and the afterlife.

Emphasizing mood over plot, Oda’s deliberately paced screenplay suffers from uneven narrative momentum and lacks broader context. However, it rewards patience for moviegoers willing to engage themselves with the heady material, which taps into our collective anxieties about mortality and metaphysical “Big Brother”-style surveillance.

Sometimes the film’s ambition exceeds its grasp, yet Nine Days never turns preachy or pretentious. Rather, finding hope amid the despair, it’s a very human story about people who aren’t yet humans.

Rated R, 124 minutes.