'Zero Day' Review: Robert De Niro Netflix Thriller Fails

One of the most popular series in the history of Netflix is “The Night Agent,” a sporadically sensical conspiracy thriller set at the highest levels of federal government. It’s thus logical, in the streaming service’s algorithmic way, to mine that vein even further with “Zero Day,” a limited series that shares wooden dialogue, incoherent politics and a dishwater palette with its wildly popular predecessor. (In tracing the aftermath of a devastating cyber attack, “Zero Day” even shares a plot, if not a focus or tone, with the Sam Esmail film “Leave the World Behind,” another Netflix hit.) There’s just one difference: Where “The Night Agent” was cast almost entirely with unknowns, apart from the inexplicable presence of a wig-wearing Hong Chau, “Zero Day” is stacked with stars — first among them executive producer Robert De Niro.

Directed by TV veteran Lesli Linka Glatter (“Love & Death”) and created by Eric Newman (“Narcos”) with journalists Noah Oppenheim and Michael S. Schmidt, “Zero Day” has some notable figures behind the camera. (Not always in the positive sense: Oppenheim, who co-showruns with Newman, was publicly accused by Ronan Farrow of blocking his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, a claim Oppenheim denies.) But in taking on his first-ever series lead role at the age of 81, De Niro is undeniably the draw. How odd, then, that this is what drew the two-time Academy Award winner to the small screen: a flat, nonsensical clunker that, at six episodes, somehow feels both draggy and rushed at the same time. 

De Niro plays George Mullen, an ex-president called back into service to head a commission investigating the hackers behind a nationwide computer outage that claimed thousands of lives. Mullen is repeatedly vaunted as the last commander-in-chief to ever achieve bipartisan support, though he opted not to seek reelection after his son died while he was still in office. That reputation foreshadows the series’ fetish for both-sidesism and centrist consensus, at one point explicitly equating the right’s embrace of blatant untruths with the left’s enthusiasm for pronouns. At least this dubious assessment of what ails our nation gets buried beneath an avalanche of vaguely topical themes, none of which “Zero Day” can focus on long enough to make a point. Tech oligarchs, the gerontocracy, podcasters spouting misinformation and the erosion of civil liberties all blur into a muddy soup that’s adjacent to relevancy without ever achieving it.

The presence of De Niro atop the call sheet, if not the project’s quality, explains the caliber of actors further down. Angela Bassett plays the sitting president, who appoints Mullen to the commission; Glatter’s “Love & Death” star Jesse Plemons appears as Mullen’s longtime aide and fixer, while Matthew Modine appears as Speaker of the House. Joining this formidable roster are Connie Britton as Mullen’s chief of staff, with whom he shares an extramarital history; Lizzie Caplan as his daughter; Dan Stevens as a Ben Shapiro-Joe Rogan type; Gaby Hoffmann as a gender-flipped Elon Musk; and perennial “that guy” Bill Camp as director of the CIA. It’s almost impressive, and a testament to the muffling blandness of “Zero Day,” that none of these turns from objectively accomplished performers manage to rise above the merely serviceable. 

To the extent “Zero Day” works to cultivate an idea before letting it float off into the ether, it’s a character study of Mullen as he confronts long-term grief in his twilight years. “Zero Day” cultivates some ambiguity around Mullen’s mental state, opening with a flash-forward to the politician rifling through papers in a confused panic. (The action catches up to the scene in less than an episode, offering little in the way of surprising context.) Watching an octogenarian president heavily implied to be a Democrat struggle to form sentences strikes a nerve, but for the most part, De Niro’s take is too taciturn and quietly dignified to inspire much emotion. “Zero Day” also struggles to situate Mullen within its fictional universe, veering him from respected steady hand to reviled abuser of power and back again without selling either his behavior or his reputation. For someone so stridently political in real life, De Niro can’t make this politician read like a man of conviction.

The look of “Zero Day” is about as dim and sludgy as the story. (Think the infamous beach scene in “House of the Dragon,” but for six hours.) When the twists arrive, as they inevitably do, they land with a thud, stranded without sufficient setup on one side or real fallout on the other. “Zero Day” may be shaped like “The Night Agent,” but it lacks the momentum even a guilty pleasure can achieve with enough propulsive thrills. “Zero Day” has the cast of an ultra-prestige series that contrasts with the look and feel of expendable pulp. Ultimately, it lacks the advantages of either.

All six episodes of “Zero Day” are now streaming on Netflix.