Film Review: The Day Shall Come

The general conceit around The Day Shall Come revolves around an issue that has often been under explored in media – terrorism stings performed by the FBI as a part of their efforts in the War on Terror, many of which involve dubious entrapment methods, and would inform the story of this very film, which opens with the text “Based On A Hundred True Stories.” It’s material prime for political satire, and seems especially appropriate for director, Chris Morris, who also co-wrote the film with Jesse Armstrong, Sean Gray, and Tony Roche (the latter two having an “additional material written by” credit).

The film centers on a delusional revolutionary, Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis), who leads a scrappy, little commune in Florida. His weird antics and proclamations gets the attention of FBI agent, Kendra (Anna Kendrick), and her boss, Andy (Denis O’Hare). Using the help of an informant, Reza (Kayvan Novak), they device a plan to lure Moses into an arms deal, so she can make her next big arrest. However, things don’t go quite as smoothly as they thought it would.

For anyone not aware of Chris Morris, he has a long history as a satirist in the UK, where he was involved in radio, TV programs like Brass Eye, and collaborating with Armando Iannucci, most recently with the show, Veep. However, what I know him for is his 2010 film, Four Lions, which is one of the best films of this decade. It’s an impressive tonal tightrope walk that combines absurd, pitch black comedy, a humanizing portrait of its jihadist characters, and a clear socio-political focus that takes the piss out of very real truths while also acknowledging the equally real consequences that come with it.

His brilliantly delicate but precise handling of a touchy subject with Four Lions makes it all the more disappointing that The Day Shall Come doesn’t come together anywhere near as strongly. It’s hard to pin down a lot of why it doesn’t totally work because many of the elements that made Four Lions great is here, but it just does not have the same impact. A part of it could be due to the fact that his sense of humor might not fully translate in an American setting. There are plenty of one-liners, some of them really funny, but most of them sort of whiz by without so much as a chuckle to go along with, despite the fact that they sound funny on paper. There’s a certain rhythm in the way British comedians deliver the kind of snappy, fast paced jokes that doesn’t work the same way when you put those same jokes in an American context.

Plus, there’s a real lack of urgency, bite, and heart to all this that felt more present in Four Lions. In this story in particular, it requires a level of suspense as the plot builds and things go wrong and plans go haywire, but none of that is felt. The pacing is far too casual and slack with no sense of momentum. The film attempts to bring some more thoughtful elements when it comes to the relationship between Moses and his wife, Venus (Danielle Brooks), but more often than not, she is simply someone for him to bounce of his whimsical antics, while his young children are basically non-entities all together. It’s a stark contrast to the intimacy of the sequences in Four Lions, where we see the home life of its lead jihadist, Omar (played by Riz Ahmed). This film leans so heavily on the absurd and the goofy, especially with Moses’ community, so when the film finally takes a serious turn in the final act, it earns none of the heaviness that it needs to make an impact on the audience.

I don’t want to keep comparing the The Day Shall Come and Four Lions, but it is incredibly disappointing to see a filmmaker stumble in material that he has proven to knock out of the park before. I wouldn’t necessarily call The Day Shall Come a total waste – the cast is solid (Marchánt Davis in particular makes a strong impression as a newcomer), and there are some occasionally killer line deliveries. It’s perfectly watchable (its short 88 minute runtime certainly helps), and I like that it touches on a subject that is begging to be further examined and rightly scrutinized and satirized. If anything, I hope this encourages people to seek out information about these sketchy FBI operations. However, it’s not as funny as it could be, it’s not as moving as it could be, and it’s not as sharp as it could be. Given the people involved, I expected better, and hope they can deliver better in the future.