The Day Shall Come
Directed by: Chris Morris
Runtime: 80 minutes
In a world where you can be ‘cancelled’ for making obscene jokes in the past, offending a minority group or joking about the ‘unjokeable,’ it is almost impossible to think about the taboo subjects satirist Chris Morris has gotten away with broaching. Whether it be a sketch about dead babies in his surrealist horror-comedy sketch show Jam (2000), the controversial, highly complained about paedophilia episode of Brass Eye (2001), or the pitch-black humour of terrorism in Four Lions (2010), Morris has always been able discuss controversial topics with a subtle, intricate finesse.
The Day Shall Come is no different in this regard. The film follows an FBI task force in Miama, who need to make another bust. They decide their next target is preacher Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis), who they believe is probably going to commit a crime… someday. Kendra (Anna Kendrick) designs the perfect temptation for a would-be terrorist organisation; however, she runs into issues when Shabaz rejects ‘gun weapons’, and refuses to commit any major crime. The plot of the film is knotty and absurd, and I adored every moment of it. The script was carved with a razor-sharp wit, something that is not a surprise when Morris himself shared co-writing credit with Peep Show’s Jesse Armstrong.
While the comedy of the piece was on-point, and the plot suitably over-the-top, the film was grounded by the pathos of its performances. Davis is incredibly likeable as Shabaz, bringing a genuine streak to a character that could have easily been a caricature in the wrong hands. Kendrick also does well as the determined agent with morally-questionable goals, finding the correct balance between satire and sincerity to make her character believable enough. By the end of the film, your heart does ache a little bit—an achievement for a film as hilarious as this is.
Morris excels when punching up at the ridiculousness of the systems we have become accustomed to, and I would say that with The Day Shall Come, the American justice system has taken quite a hit. With a film so expertly crafted, it would be hard not to see the FBI in a completely different light after viewing it. While waiting for Morris’ sophomore feature film was a test of patience, I found it was definitely worth it; The Day Shall Come is the auteur at his most unapologetic, and it is a glorious sight to behold.
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