The first film in almost a decade from lauded satirical comedian and filmmaker Chris Morris, on The Day Shall Come, Morris explores the spate of sting operations where potential terrorists have coerced into crimes they weren’t necessarily going to commit.
Set in Miami, Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis) is the leader of the Star of Six, a community farm and mission that hopes to overturn the “accidental dominance of the white people”. Moses suffers from mental health issues and comes to believe a series of escalating delusions, telling his followers that God and the Devil speak to him through a duck, and that he knows of secret CIA schemes like breeding a small group of dinosaurs. Though a more immediate worry is that he needs money to save his family and followers from eviction.
Introduced by a paid informant, it comes to pass that the FBI try to trick Moses into becoming an arms dealer by fueling his madcap revolutionary dreams, though before long things are totally out of control, both in the Star of Six, and the offices of the FBI.
The Day Shall Come tells a dark and chilling story, deeply rooted in satire but with a very apt and tragically accurate ending. The film unfortunately captures our power structures so well, as law enforcement take advantage of Moses’ poor mental health to simply meet quota.
The cast is superb, with Marchánt Davis excellent as Moses and some slick performances in the side roles too. Comedian Jame Adomian steals every scene he’s in as officer Settmonk, while Anna Kendrick adds clout even if she’s a little underused.
The film does stutter a little though in the middle act, and while the lead-in works, ditto the big climax, some of the posturing at the film’s core doesn’t quite sell the flip on Moses. The film isn’t quite silly enough to descend into farce, while it isn’t serious enough to be considered a thriller, The Day Shall Come falls somewhat awkwardly in the middle. However, creating a discussion about mental health deserves great praise, especially among people of colour, and means this is a film that in the end does elevate it’s subject matter, which is the hardest thing to do of all.