The Day Shall Come
Once again filtering today’s bleak political reality through a scathingly satirical lens, provocateur Chris Morris (Four Lions, MIFF 2010) takes inspiration from a hundred true stories with this Anna Kendrick-starring counterterrorism farce.
Where the inimitable British comedian’s hilariously incendiary big-screen debut found the funny side of jihad, his long-awaited The Day Shall Come (written with Four Lions co-writer Jesse Armstrong, who is also known for TV series The Thick of It, Peep Show and Succession) examines another aspect of the war on terror: the aspiring revolutionaries radicalised not by anti-Western rhetoric, but by screw-turning law enforcement officers willing to weaponise, incentivise and mobilise potential terrorists, then claim their capture as a victory.
Miami resident Moses (electrifying newcomer Marchánt Davis) is one such target, with enthusiastic FBI agent Kendra putting him firmly in her sights. But the impoverished preacher is no mere patsy, as Morris explores in a fittingly raucous, astute and absurd black comedy.
“One hell of a film. Sizzles with an electric humour … and aims right for the solar plexus with a punch fuelled with righteous frustration and anger.” – Vanyaland