Filmmaker
Rodrigo García takes an unusual look into the lives of nine different women in this episodic drama. Each of the film's nine sequences has been staged as a single shot, using the Steadicam system to allow the camera to follow the action fluidly and without cuts. In these short episodes (lasting between ten and 14 minutes), Holly (
Lisa Gay Hamilton) has a brief moment of reverie while confronting the specters of her past in her old neighborhood. Maggie (
Glenn Close) escorts her young daughter Maria (
Dakota Fanning) to a cemetery as they visit the graves of their family members. Ruth (
Sissy Spacek) is a married woman contemplating an affair while visiting Henry (
Aidan Quinn) in his hotel room. Diana (
Robin Wright Penn) unexpectedly runs into an old boyfriend, Damian (
Jason Isaacs), while shopping for groceries. Camilla (
Kathy Baker) is a hospital patient awaiting surgery for cancer. Samantha (
Amanda Seyfried) is a teenage girl who helps look after her handicapped father Larry (
Ian McShane). Sandra (
Elpidia Carrillo) is a female prison inmate who is expecting a visit from her children. Sonia (
Holly Hunter) lashes out at her boyfriend Martin (
Stephen Dillane) when she finds out he's been cheating on her. And Lorna (
Amy Brenneman) has an unexpectedly moving encounter with her ex-husband Andrew (
William Fichtner) as she pays her respects to his second wife, who has just passed away.
Nine Lives premiered at the
2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide