The tagline for The Day Shall Come describes the film as “A Comedy Based On a Hundred True Stories”. It is a shame, then, that not one of these stories could inspire an engaging or entertaining movie. While director Chris Morris tries his best to blend outrageous comedy with a thought-provoking and nuanced narrative, he arguably tries too hard, leading to a general lack of subtlety within the movie as a whole.
Admittedly, the film’s message is admirable and poignant, with Morris posing important questions about issues that are arguably too often ignored in political discourse. The most important being over western governments’ handling of vulnerable people in society. Through the film’s lead character, Moses (Marchant Davis), the audience is shown someone who is from a difficult and challenging background, living in a neglected area outside of Miami. Because of where he lives, it is suggested that he is consequently more susceptible to political brainwashing from extremist sources.
It is through the FBI’s handling of Moses that Morris’ film makes its most impactful statements, criticising authorities’ merciless handling of such vulnerable people. That is, instead of attempting to support and rehabilitate someone they are aware is suffering from delusion and mental instability, the FBI takes the opportunity to add another arrest to their crime statistics. The characters in the FBI are more concerned with personal promotions and political gains, rather than helping those in need, and this is something Morris is keen – and brave – to point out is happening far too regularly in western society.
Yet although the film does make some interesting points, they are delivered through an uninspiring and almost tedious story. To say Morris made his name, as a director, through his impressive ability to find hilarious beats in even the most bleak scenarios, this film demonstrates a surprisingly unsophisticated sense of humour. The script is unexpectedly heavy-handed, leading to a near-constant stream of awkward silences and half-forced chuckles. The film makes it clear when it expects you to laugh, but fails to have the necessary comedic propensity to force those laughs naturally, leading to a number of almost cringeworthy moments.
This isn’t helped by the overly animated performances of several cast members. While Davis deserves credit for displaying his character’s vulnerability, he demonstrates a frustrating inability to deliver comedic moments with an ounce of subtlety, using exaggerated eyerolls and unnatural line delivery to hammer home every attempt at humour. Denis O’Hare is equally unsubtle in his performance as FBI chief Andy Mudd, with his lively, fidgety performance making his character feel more like a caricature, with no real feeling of believability. And even Anna Kendrick, easily the most well-established member of the cast, fails to provide an authentic or original display, with her sceptical, outspoken character of Kendra treading tired comedic beats that have been seen a thousand times over.
Morris also lacks subtlety behind the camera, with his excessively active, energetic directorial style feeling out of place with the type of movie he is trying to produce. Through the film’s needless use of fast-paced pan shots and emphatic zooms on individual characters, this movie feels, at times, like a Parks and Recreation knock-off, implementing a mockumentary style of production without the mockumentary style of storytelling. While this is not always a bad thing (Brooklyn Nine-Nine uses similar techniques with impressive success), the sheer frequency of its use is almost disorientating, and fails to complement the tone and developments of the on-screen action.
The Day Shall Come possesses an overall lack of subtlety, be it in its comedy, performances or direction, making this a relatively underwhelming political comedy. Although Morris attempts to put forward some interesting points through his storytelling, his methods for making this point leave a lot to be desired.
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