This 1993 movie is one of a long line of dystopian (also called "awful warning") stories. In this case one of the key ideas that make dystopias interesting--a fascist government using paranoia to keep the masses in line--is swamped by the romance between Cuba Gooding and Moira Kelly. Of course there is a place for love in such a story--remember Winston Smith and Julia in Nineteen Eight-Four--but in Daybreak the love story eventually overwhelms everything else, and ideas go out the window.

The treatment of the disease that is supposedly rampant in this near-future world is ambiguous. No, the disease doesn't seem like AIDS, but it's unclear just what it is, how much of the population is afflicted by it, and whether or not it is really deadly. At times, you get the sense that the government invented the disease to spread fear among the people, but, then again, clearly some of the people in the movie are sick. It's all sort of confusing.

Cuba Gooding's character is one-dimensional. At first he's very angry and refuses to have anything to do with Moira Kelly. Then, aw shucks, he is forced to admit he really loves her. Moira Kelly's character is semi-believable. To me, however, the really interesting character is that played by Martha Plimpton, who makes the character come alive and has a very interesting face in the bargain.

Somewhere in this movie is a good idea that never manages to break free.

If you're looking for a late 1980's-early 1990's feel, this movie fits that bill somewhat, but there are way better films about virus conspiracy (THE CRAZIES, or ULTRAVIOLET, for example),or viruses (ANDROMEDA STRAIN, or TRAIN TO BUSAN, or most David Cronenberg nuttiness, for example),or government conspiracy (X-FILES, or THEY LIVE, for example),or government brutality in the streets (SOYLENT GREEN, or 1984, for example),and so forth. BUT..

if you want melodrama, and mixed-race relations, as the front-starter for your virus outbreak, I guess this is the one for you. In that respect, it tries to show how black and white (and I guess red, yellow, and brown) can get sucked into being part of a fascist state.

I did find the acting wooden, the writing coercive, and the direction listless, so that made the film seem arrogant, as if I have to like it based on content and not film-making. It's an HBO TV movie, so you get reduced production. Also, Cuba Gooding is not prime here, and Moira Kelly is not sexy, sorry.

As for content, this is probably about AIDS because of the time period, and the idea of sins, and the use of the word "f a g g o t". It's ham-fisted morality mixed with libertarianism which feels out-of-place in our world of mandated masks for COVID. The film at the time was probably seen as "liberal" but in today's environment it would probably be seen as "irresponsible." HOWEVER, since we live in a hypocritical society also, perhaps this particular virus/disease would be forgiven due to what it is, versus those "terrible people" who don't wear masks.

The film is not terrible, I just wouldn't want to see it again.

Daybreak is an HBO Production based on Alan Bowne's acclaimed off- Broadway play Beirut.It stars Cuba Gooding,Jr and Moira Kelly.When a substantial portion of the nation's populace falls victim to a deadly plague, the tyrannical government quarantines them in camps, offering no alternative except death in this cautionary tale from director Stephen Tolkin.

The film has been "opened-out" into an apocalyptic, romantic action- thriller. New York City is a fascist nightmare steeped in poverty and ridden with plague. Bands of armed officers under the rubric Operation Helping Hand roam the streets rounding up Positives, who are tattooed and quarantined in filthy hellholes. Blue, a poor but pretty young woman, stumbles onto a secret resistance group that rescue Positives to give them compassionate care. Blue falls in love with their courageous leader, Torch.

It focuses on the relationship between these star-crossed lovers and the film's best moments do the same. It ever mentions AIDS by name, but it is clear that AIDS is the plague in question and the theme is the hysteria that the illness can generate. The horrible future these dramas foresaw did not come to pass. Since they were written, great medical strides have been made that have changed the face of AIDS. But fear and misinformation about the disease persist.

AIDS remains a major health crisis worldwide and Daybreak could have been powerful film that deserves to be seen.Unfortunately,the film turned into a boring melodrama in the end.