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19 year old Danielle (Maura Murphy) has run away from home because her
stepdad loved to sexually abuse her. To get to the West Coast as quickly
as possible, she hitches a ride with the first guy who stops, Virgil
(Chris Schleicher), a guy who looks harmless as can be, pretty much the
perfect son-in-law. He invites her to spend the night at his place, and
though she's hesitant at first, she eventually gives in after he ensures
her time and again he doesn't expect her to put out ... and suddenly, she
finds herself chained up in Virgil's basement. Of course, initially
Danielle fully expects him to rape her and keep her as his sex slave - but
actually, things are even worse (and I have no idea if that's the
politically correct thing to say - if not, sorry ... but watch the movie
before you judge) ... you see, Virgil is a psychopath who believes himself
to be a Christ-like character, whose mission on earth it is to lead
innocent girls on a way towards sin so their sins can be forgiven in the
afterlife (which is of course Christ-like only in his twisted mind). And
he wants to achieve this in a mere 9 days ... How? By torturing her,
by breaking her will, by making her willingly give in to everything he
dishes out ... and he dishes out quite a bit, from strangling her with a
chain to almost drowning her in the bathtub, to the usual whipping, to
actually implanting a tazer in her back to electroshock her via remote
control. Eventually, he has roughed her up to a level that she willingly
beats the crap out of another captive of his (Alison Sieke), like she was
beaten up by another of his victims (Simone Frajnd). Danielle is a tough
cookie though, survives even the most cruel of tortures, never once
totally cracks, and she keeps a relatively clear head through it all. In
fact, she deals with everything so well (comparatively speaking of course)
that she starts to fascinate Virgil, he almost falls in love with her -
which of course does not mean that he doesn't keep his cruel regime up to
the end, and his very last piece of torture, chaining her up in ice water,
might just as well kill her as it killed others before her? So for all
her efforts, does Danielle even have a fighting chance to survive? And if
so, will Virgil let her go? And if so, in what state of mind will she be?
... 9 Days is definitely not for those faint of heart or
weak of stomach - there's plenty of torture in there, and the torture is
cruel, not so much in depiction actually than in idea. But that said, 9
Days is not just a film chock-full of gratuitous violence, it's
actually also a very intelligent (but not brain-heavy) examination of the
underlying psychology and philosophy of the master-slave relationship of
its lead couple and the many grey areas that exist that make the whole
affair even more uncomfortable (in a good way). Add to this a direction
that by and large stays away from sensationalism (without turning its head
the other way) and two excellent leads, and ... well, you've got yourself
a pretty good and highly disturbing movie. Recommended, naturally.
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