The Day Shall Come Review - A Farce Based on Actual Events
The Day Shall Come presents a comedy based on a hundred or so true stories.
“The Day Shall Come” opens with a statement that they base the film on hundreds of actual events, referencing the FBI’s actual practice of taking people who they think might pose a threat and influencing them to break the law so they can then be arrested. With this movie, the unsuspecting target is Moses (Marchánt Davis) a preacher who is trying to get the men in his neighborhood to stop dealing in drugs and violence and to farm instead. The problem for him is that by preaching non-violence his flock comprises only 4 people, and his wife and children. His church has no money and is about to be evicted, which makes him the perfect target for FBI agent Kendra Glack (Anna Kendrick) who is looking for a big bust to impress her superiors.
Director Christopher Morris and cinematographer Marcel Zyskind open with a comedic drug bust that has the comedy of the scene shown with shaky camera movement and a shallow depth of field often causes the subjects to step out of focus. Luckily, they didn’t keep this up for the whole film and put the camera on a tripod or other stable platform for most of the movie. My guess is that was done in a way to make these comedic scenes funnier compared to the more dramatic scenes, but honestly, I found it off-putting and unnecessary.
Marchánt Davis, a relative newcomer to film, primarily know for stage acting, does an excellent job of playing a naïve preacher who has the best intentions. Oh, and he is often off his meds that make him think God speaks to him through chickens. Yes, I know so far this sounds like a straight up comedy, especially when you add that comedian Jim Gaffigan who makes an appearance as a white supremacist. Christopher Morris, however, does a nice job of preventing the film from turning into straight-up slapstick by giving us characters that we want to believe in. Anna Kendrick as Kendra truly does seem to have the best intentions in her role as a female FBI agent surrounded by arrogant men. Add to this cast of characters Danielle Brooks who plays Venus the wife of Moses doing her best to balance the beliefs of their church with the realities of their situation, and we get a movie worth watching.
Overall Morris does a nice job of giving us a film that has a message without being overly preachy about it. We get some nice humor, good writing, and excellent acting that make this a fun film worth seeing.
- Director: Christopher Morris
- Written by: Christopher Morris and Jesse Armstrong
- Starring: Marchánt Davis and Anna Kendrick
- Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Released Date: US September 27, 2019 | UK and Ireland October 11, 2019
Review by Milo Denison, the author of “How to Manage Your Manager” a satirical look at being successful in the corporate world.
