‘Zero Day’: Robert De Niro Gets Presidential in Chatty Cyber Thriller

Alci Rengifo

Netflix’s “Zero Day” is one of those zeitgeist thrillers that wants to feel grabbed right out of tomorrow’s headlines. It taps into the fear that in our digital world, cyber terrorism is hanging over every society like a menacing cloud. The vivid details are what make the show fleetingly engaging. Creators Eric Newman and Noah Oppenheim don’t want to just make it all about action. They are fascinated by how government bureaucracies would react to a digital attack. Amid a pile of direct references and expected twists, we get pulled in by the tag team of Robert De Niro and Angela Bassett as presidents tackling the crisis. They can make overly chatty scripts appealing on presence alone.

De Niro is George Mullen, a former U.S. President living the usual, somewhat secure and secluded life of a former commander-in-chief. A cyber attack then strikes the national power grid, causing deaths and chaos. Planes crash, traffic lights turn off and officials warn of vigilante violence breaking out. President Evelyn Mitchell (Bassett), the current White House occupant, calls in Mullen to ask him to head a task force meant to investigate the attack and pinpoint those responsible. Mullen has a respectable public image as an upright leader, though in private he might be showing the first signs of dementia. He embarks on a hunt that involves a lot of archaic meetings and geopolitical implications. Was the attack a Moscow plot? Was it a tech industry coup? 

“Zero Day” proceeds as a thriller that can feel like a “spot the real-life reference” game. De Niro, who has been famously politically outspoken lately, is playing a not too veiled alter ego for Joe Biden. His character is beginning to lose his sense of memory, gets confused with the house staff and endured the tragic death of a son. When he visits the site of an accident caused by the cyber attack, hecklers in a crowd boo him as a “socialist.” It’s all very on the nose. Angela Bassett’s President Mitchell functions like a walking wish of how someday, we should eventually have a woman president. To the writers’ credit, she isn’t written like a saint and seriously ponders initiating war with Russia even when all the facts remain hazy. Any further interest in development gets lost in the swirl of the plot’s mechanics. 

Despite its attempts at relevance, “Zero Day” operates like a chatty beat sheet where characters are only there to serve the machinations of the mystery, which isn’t necessarily compelling. Mullen is surrounded by other characters who momentarily generate interest. The great Joan Allen plays Mullen’s wife, Sheila, who basically functions as a dutiful spouse to hear his frustrations at home. It’s a waste of an actor who has commanded presidential performances before, most notably as Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon.” Lizzy Caplan as Mullen’s daughter, Alexandra, a congresswoman, provides better dramatic sparks as the worried offspring who knows dad isn’t all there. Jesse Plemons is also a welcome presence as Roger Carlson, Mullen’s adviser who runs around interrogating suspects and following leads. Plemons at times threatens to outdo De Niro in moments during which Carlson gets closer to the darker corners of his boss, whether it be his mental state or Machiavellian power plays.

Though chatty and convoluted, possibly because the show began filming during the WGA strikes that brought the industry to a standstill, “Zero Day” can still be commended for its sense of authenticity and urgency. The plot may become too archaic for its own good, with mysterious young hackers on the run and Russian informers who speak in code, but the office settings at times crackle with the tension of politicians trying to handle a crisis. De Niro and Bassett are two old pros who know how to command the camera’s attention, even when the dialogue threatens to get bland. What the show is missing is truly finding ways to make us care beyond the narrative’s obvious allusions to our current situation. Tech bros are swallowing up the government. Those in power will use emergencies to justify curtailing civil liberties. One wrong move and we could be embroiled in a hot war with one of our big rivals. These are natural ingredients for a riveting story. “Zero Day” almost gets there.

“Zero Day” begins streaming Feb. 20 on Netflix.