Winston Duke’s character is a sort of cross between the stork and a guardian angel. He sits in a craftsman house in the desert, watching the people he “birthed” on old TVs, while recording momentous events on VHS (the retro tech is never explained). When one of his charges dies unexpectedly, 5 new entities (unborn souls?) must interview to become a human. Duke heads a cast of actors who stretch their dramatic talents with involving performances, including Tony Hale, Zazie Beetz and Bill Skarsgård. This is one of those tedious, pretentious experiments that may appeal to people who like esoteric, poetic musings on life. For the rest of us, the pace is deadly and there isn’t really a story, just a string of mind games disguised as tests (and dramatic opportunities for the actors). First time writer/director Edson Oda presents a unique vision and a promising point of view, but not one that will appeal to many mainstream moviegoers.

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