**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no character deaths, major reveals, or big surprises**
Clinging to a shred of hope for a better life, a small band of survivors wander the ravaged ruins of earth in search of shelter and fertile land. Rick (Dominic Monaghan), Henson (Cory Hardrict), and Adam (Shawn Ashmore) do their best to preserve a limited amount of ammunition, while Shannon (Shannyn Sossamon) relies on her trusty machete.
Shannon is reluctant to trust the quiet newcomer in the group. Mary (Ashley Bell) is a “lone wolf,” and she refuses to open up to everyone else, but the group is forced to deal with bigger problems. Henson is struggling to fight an unknown illness, and without the proper resources and medical care, Rick, against Adam’s wishes, urges the group to stop and rest.
The group finds shelter at a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, and everything is calm and quiet at first, but the situation takes a turn for the worst, when Adam and Rick discover a bundle of canned goods in the basement. The cans aren’t filled with vegetables or soup. Instead, each can is filled with rocks. Rick, Henson, and Adam unknowingly spring a trap that triggers a ringing alarm, and all three men are trapped in the basement by a steel door.
Shannon and Mary do their best to fight off the wave of attackers, but the first battle is just a warm up for the oncoming invasion. A deranged man leads his two small children and his group of bloodthirsty cannibals to the farmhouse for a feast. Father (Michael Eklund) promises a fresh supply of new meat for his clan, and suspicions of sabotage endanger the group’s chances of survival after a shocking revelation…….
Ashley Bell delivers the best performance as the scrappy and grizzled loner, with a troubled past. Everyone else? Yeah, the quality of performances from the rest of the cast ranges from decent to mediocre. Cory Hardrict is the generic tough guy, who refuses to go down without a fight. Shawn Ashmore sheds a few tears as Adam, but there’s nothing special about his performance.
There’s nothing wrong with Shannyn Sossamon’s performance, but Shannon is easily the most unlikeable and annoying character here. For the most part, Michael Eklund’s screen time is limited to brief moments of Father leading the troops and his kids to the farmhouse, and he doesn’t receive a consistent amount of focus until the very end. Eklund is believable as this creepy cult leader with a nasty mean streak, but his character doesn’t have a real chance to stand out. And Dominic Monaghan’s screen time is too short to make a fair assessment.
What happened? After taking one look at the desolate landscape, it’s obvious earth was devastated by some kind of apocalyptic disaster, but The Day never takes the time to give a detailed explanation about the events preceding the current storyline.
As the audience, we’re just supposed to assume a nuclear attack destroyed earth? Did a viral outbreak turn everyone into zombies? Sorry, but as the viewer, it’s kind of hard to put myself in suspension of disbelief mode, when I don’t know the reasons behind the troubles facing the main cast of characters. If I missed something, feel free to point it out, otherwise, The Day has a pretty noticeable void in the story.
Although, I’ll admit I enjoyed the black and white style here. The Day is loaded with gruesome gore and bloody violence, but the black and white approach gives everything a more aesthetic feel. The Day has more than enough generic setbacks, but using black and white provides a little refreshment, and I appreciated the respectable effort to stand out amongst the pack.
The Day won’t change the landscape for post-apocalyptic films, and I had a lot of trouble buying into the brooding, dark tone here, because with the exception of Bell, no one else in the cast delivers a strong enough performance that’s capable of pulling an emotional reaction out of you.
Still, if you’re willing to overlook the flaws, The Day is a passable post-apocalyptic film. The brutal and bloody gore is pretty intense, the hard hitting fight scenes are fun to watch, and The Day features a suspenseful and action-packed finale. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but The Day is an adequate strawberry (or cheese) Danish at the crowded buffet of post-apocalyptic films. And I’ll tell you this now, I’ll take The Day over the other dried out pieces of heat lamp chicken and stale biscuits in Wal-Mart’s five dollar bin.
Rating: 5/10
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