The Day of the Lord is a 2020 Mexican horror film about a retired priest who is haunted by his sins and has a crisis of faith. However, he is pulled back into the darkness when an old friend begs him to help his possessed daughter.
Directed by Santiago Alvarado (Fallen Cape) from a screenplay co-written with Ramón Salas, the Sula Films production stars Ximena Romo (Asphalt Goddess), Juli Fàbregas (Fallen Cape; [Rec]2), Dolores Heredia, Hector Illanes and Oscar Gordillo.
Plot:
Menéndez is a retired priest who lives in his dark and ruinous apartment turning his back on the world. He suffers from a crisis of faith and is haunted by horrible nightmares and acts of his past that torture him.
One day, he receives the visit from Sebastián, an old friend who knows Menéndez’s past business. He claims his daughter is possessed by the devil and begs for the former priest’s help to exorcise her, although he’s well aware of the aggressive methods Menéndez uses.
Pushed by Sebastián’s insistence and his inner conflict, Menéndez takes this case as a chance for redemption. He has a new goal in life but is she really possessed or will she suffer senseless torture?
Reviews:
“Pro: The insanely moronic dialogue. Con: With his salt-and-pepper beard and a crazed look in his eye, Fabregas is a dead ringer for Mel Gibson […] Pro: Deranged-ass movie don’t give a f—. Con: Dumb pitch-shifted demon voice and (sigh) crackity-bones sound effects. Pro: I laughed a lot. Con: I laughed at how gruesomely tasteless it is.” Decider
” …it’s just another in the line of exorcism movies. Showing the audience one thing and then turning it on its head isn’t clever, it’s just straight-up lying to the audience and then going “Gotcha!” when you tell the truth. We’ve seen a few too many movies pull this trick…” Heaven of Horror
” …this is your routine, stereotypical exorcism story where sins cripple the characters, and the event gets crazier with each scene passing. Credit has to go to the scene-setting and the director’s choice to instil as much darkness as possible. The story falls over when it no longer has to say anything for itself.” Ready Steady Cut!
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Release:
The Day of the Lord streamed on Netflix worldwide from October 30th 2020.
Cast and characters:
Juli Fàbregas … Menéndez
Hector Illanes … Sebas
Dolores Heredia … Marisa
Ximena Romo … Raquel
Oscar Gordillo … Demon
Technical details:
93 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original title:
Menendez Parte 1: El día del Señor
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