IMDb RATING
5.9/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
An impoverished preacher who brings hope to the Miami projects is offered cash to save his family from eviction. He has no idea his sponsor works for the FBI who plan to turn him into a crim... Read allAn impoverished preacher who brings hope to the Miami projects is offered cash to save his family from eviction. He has no idea his sponsor works for the FBI who plan to turn him into a criminal by fueling his madcap revolutionary dreams.An impoverished preacher who brings hope to the Miami projects is offered cash to save his family from eviction. He has no idea his sponsor works for the FBI who plan to turn him into a criminal by fueling his madcap revolutionary dreams.
Malcolm M. Mays
- Farmer X
- (as Malcom Mays)
Mousa Hussein Kraish
- Malik
- (as Mousa Kraish)
Featured reviews
"Based on a hundred true stories," as the title card reads, Morris' second feature finds the darkest humour in the most lunatic home truths. Examining how the FBI were out to lure antiAmerican groups into acts of terrorism to stop them being terrorists, the Miami-set story sees a field office train its sights on a revolutionary named Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis). Leader of the skeletal Star of Six, Moses is out to save AfricanAmerican communities, even banning guns from his group. But he's mentally troubled, believing God and Satan talk to him via a duck. It's when FBI agents try to entrap him via a snitch (Kayvan Novak) and turn him into an arms dealer that the farce really kicks in, like a Dr. Strangelove for the 21st Century. Morris and co-writer Jesse Armstrong set up the FBI - with the exception of Anna Kendrick's G-Woman Kendra - as clownish, somewhat softening the intended blows. The satire doesn't quite hit as hard as earlier Morris projects, nor is it as funny. But it's still brimming with ideas and, in his first feature-length role, the charismatic Davis is a real find.
I am just back from the first public showing of this movie in the UK at the Cameo Edinburgh. This was billed as having a Q&A session with Chris Morris, usually this means the director is in London and its a satellite link up but no, he was actually here.
My initial thoughts about the film was that its a very funny in a similar vein to Four Lions, its about inept would be terrorists and the authorities on their tail.
The spin with this movie is that the FBI are out to entrap and this time its black Muslims in the vein of the 5% nation or nation of Islam. The main reason this does not feel as impactful is that the terrorist events which informed four lions are somewhat in the past. Four lions felt very immediate as there was a perception these events could happen anytime. With the war on terror on American soil now wound down, The Day Shall Come does not have the same weight.
Its masterfully written and hysterically funny in parts however the premise that the FBI/authorities are as inept and that they only arrest and convict innocents will not go down well in some places. The fact that the terror threat has greatly reduced hints that they must be doing something right?
And that is the main difficulty of the film. The fact that the war of terror strategy has worked not only counters the narrative of the film, the reduced threat means its no longer as current as Four Lions was.
The cast and directing are excellent as is the dialogue and there are many shockingly great twists.
It does feel an odd choice to use the black Muslim movement as a focus for the movie, I will be watching with interest how they respond to it.
As for the Q&A with Chris Morris? There werent many questions from the audience as people seemed a bit intimidated by his intelligence. He did go on to explain his research suggested the FBI were the biggest "recruiter" of terrorists and explained how. I feel he will be doing alot of explaining once this hits the theatres.
Highly recommended although thankfully things have moved on since Four Lions, which is surely a good thing.
The Day Shall Come: Chris Morris directs a dark comedy/satire/thriller along the same grounds as Four Lions but this one doesn't quite reach the Lion's level. It strays into SpyFi with the constant monitoring through drones cctv, wires, hidden bodycams. Morris says that this is based on 100 true tales of LEAs in the US entrapping hapless individuals incapable of carrying out any real attack. Moses (Marchant Davis) is the leader of a small cult which worships Jesus, Black Santa, Muhammad and Toussaint Louverture, a duck told him to found it (when he doesn't take his medication animals speak to him). His small group based in Miami is dragged into an elaborate plot involving a false Sheikh, guns, uranium and a horse.
The film is quite funny in parts but it doesn't hang together so well. The FBI/Police office politics, insults and wisecracking involving Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare and James Adomian seem divorced from the main plot yet they seal Marchant's fate. Things perhaps get over-complicated when a nazi gang are introduced as end customers for the uranium. Worth watching and with a running time of 88 minutes it doesn't drag but I was expecting better from Morris. 6/10.
The film is quite funny in parts but it doesn't hang together so well. The FBI/Police office politics, insults and wisecracking involving Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare and James Adomian seem divorced from the main plot yet they seal Marchant's fate. Things perhaps get over-complicated when a nazi gang are introduced as end customers for the uranium. Worth watching and with a running time of 88 minutes it doesn't drag but I was expecting better from Morris. 6/10.
Satires are most powerful when the jokes ring so true that you find yourself laughing at the absurdity of our world and not just the jokes. In this regard, this film soars!
I had been looking forward to this film forever as four lions is possibly my favourite film of all time and still has me roaring with laughter after multiple views. However where four lions got things right this film misses the mark and didn't even bring the smallest of chuckles from me at any point a remarkably average film and just not funny enough for a supposed comedy.
Did you know
- TriviaWriter / Director Christopher Morris and Kayvan Novak (Reza) have also collaborated on Four Lions, another terrorist inspired movie.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Anna Kendrick/Kal Penn/Edi Patterson (2019)
- How long is The Day Shall Come?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Le jour viendra où...
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $26,972
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,854
- Sep 29, 2019
- Gross worldwide
- $552,033
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content