Written and directed Amir Zargara, Arash is a professional wrestler with dreams of representing his country and winning gold medals. The country is in turmoil and its people are suffering. Arash must decide between using his platform to stand up to tyranny or put his head down and remain silent. Starring: Sia Alipour, Mehdi Bajestani, Shoale Shahbazi and Moeid Zalaghi.
The first and key thing to discuss with A Good Day Will Come is the foundation of this tale, which is based on the harrowing story of Navid Afkari. Trying to do justice to this heavy, poignant moment of history is no simple challenge and in a lot of ways Amir Zargara succeeds in that regard but it also feels like that responsibility hinders the power of the film. Firstly, because the message and the tone are absolutely there, the point it has to make about freedoms, censorship and oppression are extremely clear.
However, it feels like out of respect for Navid Afkari, Zargara plays it very safe with the style of the short. It’s trying to guide your emotions too heavily, its atmosphere is overt and leading, rather than having a subtle, sharp build. It also moves away from the extremely harsh nature of this reality, softening the blow which restricts the weight that A Good Day Will Come can put behind its punch. It’s a shame to not see it bring a bigger rawness into the mix.
Although the direction is still solid work and you can see the intentions behind its gentle nature. It can run a little longer than it needed to and focus a tad too much on the wrestling at times but the family aspects of A Good Day Will Come are strong, as well as the performances. Sia Alipour gives an excellent portrayal that’s filled with conflict and determination. He captures the disappointment and frustration his character has for what his people are going through but pushes back against that despair. It’s one of the strongest aspects of the short, that pervasive sadness and anguish.
A Good Day Will Come does a great job of capturing the weight of these issues and the serious threat that they pose but plays things a little too safe. The tone is in the right place and the leading performance is strong but the atmosphere doesn’t feel quite sharp enough, it’s missing a rawness or tight grasp on the grit to this story. It’s leaning towards the sentimental rather than striking harshly, choices that feel as though they were out of respect and trying to handle the story sensitively.
FilmCarnage.com 