The Day The Day is a 2011 Canadian post - apocalyptic film directed by Douglas Aarniokoski . The film stars Ashley Bell , Shannyn Sossamon , Dominic Monaghan , Shawn Ashmore and Cory Hardrict . The film premiered on September 16 , 2011 at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival . The film was released in 12 theaters in the United States on August 29 , 2012 . It screened theatrically for 16 days and grossed $ 20 , 984 . Plot . The Day follows a group of five survivors in a post - apocalyptic world as they travel through a bleak environment in an attempt to find food , shelter , and a safe place to stop running from tribes of savage cannibals that roam the country - side . They hope to plant several jars of seeds that they either stole or found during their journey . There were at some point twelve in their group , but it is not known how the others died or how long the remaining five have been on the run . One of the survivors , Adam ( Shawn Ashmore ) , who we see in flashbacks , left his wife and daughter alone in the car outside while he searched for supplies inside an empty house located in a ravaged suburban community . His wife and daughter were attacked and either captured or killed . The rest of the group are Rick ( Dominic Monaghan ) , Shannon ( Shannyn Sossamon ) , Henson ( Cory Hardrict ) and Mary ( Ashley Bell ) . Seeking refuge in the countryside , the five decide to go to a nearby farmhouse for shelter , debating whether to stay until one of their group , Henson , has recovered from whatever has made him sick ; or to rest there briefly and then move on to avoid attracting cannibals . The group separate : the men explore the house , while the two women head outside after their leader , Rick , asks them to try to trap some game . Instead , Mary goes to a nearby stream to clean up . While cleaning her dress , Mary hears someone moving toward her and realises at the last minute that it ' s a scout for one of the tribes that live in the area . He chases her across the stream but she is able to reach her gun and shoot him . Meanwhile , back in the farmhouse , Adam and Rick explore the basement and discover boxes full of tinned food . They yell out for Henson to come and look at what they ' ve found but discover that the tins contained rocks , and inadvertently activate a trap that sets off an alarm , shuts the three men in the basement and kills Rick . Several cannibals show up and attempt to get to the men in the basement but are all killed by Shannon and Mary , who , hearing the alarm , rush back to the house where they find and confront the attackers . One of them recognises a mark on Mary ' s thigh and identifies her as a cannibal from a rival tribe , then attempts to escape but is killed by Mary . The women rescue the men from the basement and afterward , Shannon knocks Mary unconscious , having heard the cannibal yell that Mary is one of them . The three decide to restrain her in a chair and question her aggressively about her past in order to learn who and what she really is . When she doesn ’ t speak , Adam , furious over Rick ’ s death , begins to torture her while Shannon looks on , urging him to just kill her instead . This does not sit well with Henson , who stops Adam from going too far . Mary eventually gives in and tells Adam she was not responsible for killing Adam ' s wife and daughter . She explains that she left her own tribe because they killed a young girl who was sick and could have been saved , but was strung up like an animal and eaten . She insists that she was only trying to survive . She also reminds them that the tribe that set the trap is coming for them . After listening to the story , the three debate whether to free her or kill her , whilst burning Rick ' s body . Meanwhile , the tribe of cannibals and its leader ( Michael Eklund ) swear to take back their house and supplies . The four barricade the entire house as they prepare themselves for the oncoming battle . Under cover of night , the tribe invades the house where the four are . As waves of attackers attempt to get inside , the group initially use weapons to stab or cut them , but eventually fire at them through the windows . Several men break through a barricade and drag Shannon outside , but she is saved by Henson , who is killed instead . The tribe leader ' s anger heats up even more when Shannon unintentionally kills his young son . He leaves his daughter to avenge her brother ’ s death . In the morning , Mary insists Shannon and Adam leave through the back and leave her to confront the remaining enemy clan members in front of the house , which they agree upon . Then only after leaving do they realize that Shannon had taken the shells from her shotgun . Mary is overpowered by the leader , only to be saved when Adam comes back to help her fight off the last few cannibals . During the fight , he sustains a series of wounds which lead to his death . Out in the woods , Shannon is attacked , and her throat is slashed by the leader ’ s daughter , who leaves her to die . At the farmhouse , Mary cremates Adam ' s remains , then start to walk away only to encounter the leader ’ s daughter who pretends to be an innocent girl . As they both start walking , the girl reaches for a jagged blade to kill her but Mary is quicker and decapitates her , then continues walking away from the burning farmhouse . Production . " The Day " is directed by Douglas Aarniokoski based on a screenplay by Luke Passmore . Filming took place in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada , during the fall of 2010 . Release . " The Day " premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12 , 2011 . After the screening , Splendid acquired rights to distribute the film in German - speaking territories in Europe and Benelux . WWE Studios also acquired rights to distribute the film in the United States . It later partnered with Anchor Bay Films to co - distribute the film . In November 2011 , Entertainment One acquired rights to distribute the film in the United Kingdom , France , Scandinavia , and South Africa . The film was released in 12 theaters in the United States on August 29 , 2012 . It was in release for 16 days and grossed $ 20 , 984 . Reception . Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports among 13 reviews an average rating of 5 out of 10 . Metacritic reports among 9 reviews an overall score of 41 out of 100 ; it identified one positive review , six mixed reviews , and two negative reviews .