A GOOD DAY WILL COME Review: Amir Zargara Dares You To Care
Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Amir Zargara is back with a new short after taking off with 2021’s Become The Wounded. I haven’t seen that one but the logline hints a great deal at the kind of filmmaker Zargara wants to be in front of the viewing public, something he remains clear about in his latest work, A Good Day Will Come.
Actor and martial artist Sia Alipour plays Arash, a promising wrestler with a chance to flourish on the mat and climb the ladder as a contender for Olympic Gold. His career flourish also comes at a moment of sociopolitical upheaval with a spell of protests against the Iranian government and calls for accountability turning violent onto citizens.
Additionally, Arash must contend with the potential consequences laid before him by his coach, whose own apprehension is drawn purely from political apathy. Things change however when the film takes a striking emotive turn, in a tragic twist that finds Arash at an inflection point that inspires him to use his status and influence to be a voice for his people. What remains to be seen, however, are the very consequences iterated to him when a post-match photo op soon makes him the target of secret police, resulting in a baleful and chilling climax.
A Good Day Will Come is billed as a personal endeavor for Zargara whose tale comes inspired from the real life travails of late Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari. Without going into too much detail, this should provide some indication as to which way Zargara’s short story goes, and the result is nothing short of gutting and omnious. To that end, it’s also as real and tangible as it gets from a director who clearly follows geopolitics, and a story that couldn’t have arrived at a better time as the world unravels in the wake of a post-pandemic genocide happening right now in Gaza, and a plethora of other crises happening in Haiti, Ukraine, and Syria of late.
The casting of Alipour is a fascinating one. I’ve only ever seen him featured in a few projects in small roles so this is the first time I’ve seen him in something prominent. He finds a terrific and fitting role in Arash, a character whose struggle is purely relatable to anyone who pays attention to geopolitics and social unrest. He’s a wrestler forced to grapple with more than just his next worthy opponent on the mat, and we see where that inspiration goes and the toll it ultimately takes. Granted, it’s mild in presentation, but visually pertinent and strong in its impact and reverb for the fact of just how horrible it truly gets for people immured thanks to an oppressive regime.
The wrestling scenes are more ancillary to the narrative drama, though it’s still cool to see him showcase both as strengths which isn’t something you always see in actors who can do martial arts and independent directors steering them. I should know, because I’ve seen (and panned) a fair number of them. Genre talk aside though, I look forward to seeing discussions around this short perpetuate as it makes the festival rounds.
Zargara’s agenda to inspire empathy is worthwhile, and worth witnessing, with A Good Day Will Come serving exemplary in that effort as he captures the zeitgeist with a timely and compelling tale. It’s the kind of film in any duration that ought to speak to the consciousness of anyone who has ever dared to spotlight the ills of the world only to be challenged by those telling them to look away “or else” (it happened to me on more than one occasion). And not for nothing either, if you’ve clicked this review and gotten read this far in reading. In that case, I’d say perhaps Zargara is definitely doing his part.
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Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
