It’s the most anticipated series of the year. And for good reason: Robert de Niro is acting in a series for the very first time… and what a series! The political thriller Zero Day has just landed on Netflix and has made us completely addicted. In the role of a former President of the United States appointed to head a Commission investigating the massive cyberattack that has just brought the USA to its knees, the favorite actor of Martin Scorsese definitively establishes himself as the absolute king of both the big and small screen.
A threat a little too realistic
Imagine going about your daily routine when suddenly all your screens—phone, television, car dashboard, cybersecurity, or even air traffic—freeze and display the same message: This will happen again. What follows is thousands of deaths.
To contain the damage, the resident of the White House, aka President Mitchell (Angela Bassett), calls on her predecessor, former POTUS George Mullen (Robert de Niro), who had retired from political life despite his popularity. He is assigned to lead the investigative Commission responsible for finding the culprits and preventing the next attack.
Mullen, accompanied by his beloved wife (Joan Allen), his very loyal advisor Roger (Jesse Plemons), and his daughter Alex (Lizzy Caplan), a newly elected Congresswoman, must quickly navigate this new world that, in less than a minute, has become a hub of uncertainty and threat. But many believe that Mullen is too old to understand today’s world. And rumors circulate about the former President’s mental health: he is said to suffer from hallucinations and memory loss…
Behind the scenes of politics
The big-screen icon delivers in the very first series of his extensive filmography. Zero Day is created by Eric Newman (Narcos), Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland, Mad Men), and Noah Oppenheim, straight from NBC News. These big bosses of the film and television industry have teamed up to bring us this piece of fiction (not so fictional…) that makes us think just as much as it entertains.
A bit conspiratorial but mostly exposing the instability and danger lurking behind the scenes of the world’s most powerful state, Zero Day manages to captivate by revealing real bombshells about the workings of the political and media sphere. The character tensions, slightly exaggerated (the crazy conspiracy theorist who only knows how to shout on TV, the young Congresswoman who thinks she understands the modern world better, the kind former President who opposes torture even in emergencies), still keep us on edge, impatient to know what happens next.
Verdict: A favorite for this political thriller led by a De Niro more inspired than ever, who recently called a certain Donald Trump a "clown." The political commitment of this series doesn’t stop at its script and the role of President given to a woman of color, as filming was interrupted due to the Writers Guild of America strike in 2023. It’s the cult series of this early year, not to be missed!
Zero Day, available on Netflix from February 20.
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