The Day Shall Come

There are plenty of genres in film that appear to age like fine wine. Classic horror movies like The Shining and The Thingwere critically shunned during their release in the early 80s and yet today they’re regarded as some of the greatest horror movies of all time. On the other end of this spectrum is comedy, plenty of comedies that broke new ground during their time now appear outdated. Even movies from a few years ago raise questions as to what relevance they have today, but there is the occasional gem that’s message continues to resonate. One of these being a British-funded gem from 2010, written and directed by Christopher Morris. Four Lionsdepicting the life of four incompetent terrorists planning an act of terror. Now in 2019, Morris is back and this time has flocked to the other side of the pond of Miami in The Day Shall Come.
 
Following preacher/revolutionary Moses (Marchant Davis), the film is based on hundreds of true stories all within the United States. Moses leads a small army (4 people all together), preaching the ways of African nationalism and liberation theology. He has his own vision of the gods, one of those being a black Santa. He believes in the evolution of man and that our brains have further potential; his dream being to one day move a crane purely through his mind. Thanks to the age of technology, Moses and his followers live stream their rituals and beliefs on Facebook, which ends up attracting the attention of FBI agent Kendra Glack (Anna Kendrick). Her department has been tasked with looking for radical groups who may commit future crimes, therefore setting them up to subsequently arrest them. Their outcome is mostly trying to avoid these possible crimes being committed, but also upping their statistics when the talks of promotion start to circulate. However this sting of selling arms to Moses doesn’t appear as smooth as they once hoped, due to the fact that Moses’ revolution is built around pacifism. He doesn’t believe in guns, preferring the weapons of tradition, those that include sword, shield and of course, the crossbow. When the informant, disguised as a Middle Eastern dealer, flaunts funds of fifty grand in their faces, Moses is unable to say no. But there’s an ulterior motive to this, he needs that money to help pay the rent for his family after he receives a notice of eviction. It’s a plot that constantly changes and reroutes itself, one that keeps you second guessing all the way to its ending, where it comes back to let you know that this story is based on truth, that real-world consequences occur to people going against societal norm.
 
Despite this ‘American Four Lions’being a more serious statement on how our world deals with potential terrorists, there is still the quick-witted dialogue that Morris perfected in his earlier work. With Jesse Armstrong (creator of Peep Showand Succession) also co-writing, it’s no wonder that the jokes bounce off each character like a 1930s screwball comedy. With the plot including misdirection after misdirection and everyone trying to play both sides, the screenplay’s end results truly work.
 
There are plenty of topics in The Day Shall Comethat Morris is trying to bring to light, maybe too much in all honesty. The film may highlight how organisations like the FBI exploit these small non-threatening groups in order to boost their own ego, but it also comments on blackmail, race, capitalism and mental health, topics that can’t all be crammed into an 87 minute runtime.
 
The concept may be out there but the documentary style of filming makes it clear that this event is as real as ever. This may be the final problem holding The Day Shall Come back from achieving cult status like Four Lionshas done. However real the subject matter of Four Lionswas, it felt like escapism in not having to worry about current world affairs. The Day Shall Comedoesn’t shy away from reminding you the cruel truth of the real world, and so rather than letting its audience escape within a satirical situation, it left me feeling angry.
 
6/10