Based on 100 true stories involving Homeland Security and the FBI, Chris Morris’s “The Day Shall Come,” is an acerbically funny and thrilling satirical follow-up to “Four Lions.”
“The Day Shall come,” begins with Moses (Marchánt Davis), a preacher in an impoverished Miami community who uses the ideals of “black jihad” to pull at-risk peers from dealing drugs. Upon receiving an eviction notice, Moses and Venus (Danielle Brooks) fall into a trap set by FBI agent Kendra (Anna Kendrick), meant to frame him as a national security threat, by finding a sponsor willing to support his “jihadi mission.”
Morris is not at all shy about telling his audience exactly what he thinks of the agencies involved with Homeland Security. The deliberate nature of Kendra’s need to pin a crime which doesn’t exist on Moses is both absurd, and through Kendrick’s signature “conflicted face,” believable. However, the story suffers from the fact that it is based on several other stories stitched together. This disjointed nature makes the thriller hard to follow.
The black humor involved in “The Day” isn’t for everyone. At times, several of the characters become extreme versions of their real life counterparts, which is characteristic to the genre but can read as offensive to those unfamiliar with extreme satire. That said, it is delightfully caricaturesque. Michael Braun is a prime example as politician Richard Signal, the guy who says “I’m not being racist,” before saying something racist.
The delusion that Moses is under renders him well-meaning but ultimately dangerous to himself, as he has difficulty differentiating it from reality. This creates a compelling critique about how those with such disorders are treated, often cast aside, discarded as nonfunctional or taken advantage of. Moses’s delusion marks him as the perfect target for the FBI in this film, as his Jihadi preaching, prayers to black Santa and focus on violently ending gentrification are easily construed as terroristic in nature, despite the fact that he’s about as dangerous as a gun with no clip.
“The Day Shall Come” is a delightfully weird, satirical film that will provoke thought just as easily as laughter.
“The Day Shall Come”
Score: 4/5
