Robert De Niro’s Netflix thriller Zero Day makes one crucial mistake

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Angela Bassett as the President of the United States. Robert De Niro as the former President. The pair of them teaming up to fight the forces of evil.

It’s everything you could possibly want from a Netflix thriller. What many would even love to see in real life, given the state of politics across the pond today.

From the first few moments of Zero Day, the political drama had me hooked, my mind whirring as De Niro’s George Mullen found himself caught up in the middle of a mysterious and potentially life-threatening scenario.

However, as the series progressed throughout its six episodes, I realised that for me, it makes one crucial mistake.

In Zero Day, the show follows the fallout of a horrific cyberattack, which leaves more than 3,000 people dead.

Former President Mullen is brought in by the sitting President Evelyn Mitchell (Bassett) to lead a Commission to investigate what happened and to enact justice – seemingly by any means necessary.

Robert De Niro stars as the formidable former President George Mullen (Picture: Jojo Whilden/Netflix) Sitting President Mitchell (Angela Bassett) gives her predecessor an important task after the cyberattack (Picture: Jojo Whilden/Netflix)

As chaos brews among members of the public confused by what’s happening and fearing for their lives, Mullen and the Commission go to extreme measures to desperately seek answers.

On top of everything transpiring in the public eye, De Niro’s character is also facing his own personal turmoil, the political figure haunted by the past while his state of mind is placed under the microscope.

If anyone can play a man capable of being both a formidable President and a fearsome interrogator, it’s the Taxi Driver and Raging Bull himself.

De Niro, 81, has spent an entire career playing characters who audiences wouldn’t want to mess with, and he does so yet again in this new Netflix release.

However, Mullen’s vulnerability comes rushing to the surface as viewers begin to learn more about what makes him tick and how he was perceived both during and after his presidency.

Jesse Plemons gives a standout performance as Roger Carlson in the series (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix) Alexandra Mullen (Lizzy Caplan) is the daugher of De Niro’s former President Mullen (Picture: Jojo Whilden/Netflix)

It’s been 24 years since De Niro acted opposite Bassett, 66, in The Score, and every interaction that this pair of acting legends share in Zero Day is oozing with starpower… even if we’d have loved to see more scene-stealing turns from the Black Panther actress.

Jesse Plemons, 36, gives a standout performance as Roger Carlson, Mullen’s right-hand man who seems to be toying with his own political agenda, while Lizzy Caplan, 42, stars as Alexandra Mullen, a former First Daughter-turned-Congresswoman who has no qualms with putting her own father to task.

The set-up for Zero Day is edge-of-your-seat stuff, envisioning a cyberattack that in today’s day and age, would truly be the stuff of nightmares.

The cast is stacked, the horrors that ensue feel almost too realistic in the year 2025, and viewers have six episodes to be sucked in by Netflix’s latest deceitful thriller.

However, in my eyes, this story would have felt far more impactful as a feature-length film… and the fact that it was instead spread out across an entire season is where it falters.

It’s a treat to watch these two cinematic legends on screen together (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix © 2024) Dan Stevens stars as infuriating right wing commentator Evan Green in the show (Picture: Jojo Whilden/Netflix)

Don’t get me wrong, I was intrigued by the series from start to finish – but the grip it had on me did start to dip midway through, with several scenes that could have been condensed or cut out completely.

Mysteries that are introduced right at the start, with the promise of big pay-offs, unfortunately don’t live up to expectation by the time the truth spills out.

I relish every one-on-one interaction De Niro has with his co-stars, especially when Mullen is giving other characters a shakedown while trying to get to the bottom of who committed the devastating cyberattack.

But I must admit, I’d prefer fewer of them in a two-hour movie, rather than a spate in a six-hour series, so that the ones we do get really pack a punch, and the interactions between characters don’t feel repetitive and unnecessarily dragged out.

The problem with creating captivating thrillers with mind-blowing premises is the question of how on earth the end is going to live up to the beginning.

Recently, I absolutely loved Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw’s high-octane Netflix drama Black Doves and I can’t wait for the second season to arrive – but I did find the big reveal at the end very anti-climactic.

For me, the same applies again for Zero Day. While there are gripping twists throughout and leading up to the finale – and I would say it’s still worth the watch – it is a shame the conclusion doesn’t match the explosive start.

Zero Day is available to stream on Netflix.

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