The Day Shall Come

By: Ashlee Dell

A film that is literally blown out of proportions, Chris Morris’ latest film The Day Shall Come tells the tale of a sting operation to foil a terrorist plot that was never there to begin with. The film, which originally premiered at SXSW, hails itself as “a comedy based on a hundred true stories.” While how much or how little that was exaggerated for the effect of the film is unclear as it’s one mistake after another that makes for a dark satirical comedy that will leave you speechless at the fact that this type of overreaching actually happens.

Set in Miami, The Day Shall Come focuses on Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis) who is a preacher that started a religious community farm and mission in an effort to combat gentrification and the “accidental dominance of the white race.” This catches word of the FBI who, at the same time, are attempting to capture and foil terrorist plots and failing to meet its quotas after an operation fails to lead to a prosecution. This leads FBI agent Kendra Glack (Anna Kendrick) to go to extremes.

Kendra attempts to convince her boss Andy Mudd (Denis O’Hare) that Moses is plotting “the next 9/11” and he gladly agrees to set up a sting operation as he is eager to retire on a good note. Meanwhile, the commune (known as the Star of Six) only has a handful of other members including Moses’ wife, Venus (Danielle Brooks), and their daughter. Not to mention the Star of Six does not even believe in using guns–instead only relying on crossbows when absolutely necessary. Agent Kendra is determined to make a name for herself at the field office (as the only woman on the team besides the receptionist) and decides to convince one of their paid informants, Reza (Kayvan Novak), to attempt to sell money and guns to Moses who is in need of cash to save his mission and the mission escalates further and further into a string of unexpected conclusions.

The Day Shall Come has come nearly ten years since Morris’s film Four Lions, a similar terrorism-gone-wrong film with an equally similar satirical tone. Morris’ direction paired with his and the film’s co-writer (“Succession” creator) Jesse Armstrong’s script make for an at-times unbelievable film of error after error. The film is Marchánt Davis’ first starring role and Davis is able to make Moses a good-intentioned and believable character alongside his female costars. Brooks and Kendrick’s characters act as the moral compasses for Moses and the FBI respectively, although Kendra is the reason the mess began.

Overall, The Day Shall Come is a poignant film that highlights government corruption while being deeply rooted in satire throughout. The plan obviously does not pan out how it was intended, but it comes much too late for solace. The plot gone awry in The Day Shall Come is only one of many post-9/11 stings the film alleges the government took part in to combat terrorism or at least look like they were trying to combat it. Paired with a great cast ensemble, Morris finds a way to deal with the dark subject matter of the film in a way that keeps the audience on their toes.