Zero Day
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Eric Campos
    90
    This isn’t exploitation; this is a look at how things may have been with Harris and Klebold, and how something like this could easily happen again.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    Though comparisons to "The Blair Witch Project" are inevitable, the impeccable first-person camera technique not only makes sense dramatically, but also facilitates a complex and queasily ambiguous relationship between the conspirators and the audience.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    80
    Consistently riveting. Anything but sensationalistic, pic powerfully illuminates the banality of evil, as realistically ordinary kids (played brilliantly by non-professional high schoolers) prepare to wreak havoc.
  4. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Curt Fields
    80
    Will chill you to your core.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Cocchio's film isn't as poetic as Gus Van Sant's hauntingly beautiful (far more expensive) "Elephant," but it has a power and immediacy that makes it much more worthwhile than "Home Room."
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    Gains its power through what it withholds, namely, sound- bite answers as to why these horrific events happen.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    Without even trying, Coccio may have stumbled over the truest metaphor for Columbine yet.
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    70
    The simulation of shaky camera amateur DV is a narrative ploy that often taxes the filmmakers' ingenuity. Still, the movie has a creepy authenticity.
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    70
    What gives the movie its power is that even the most innocuous scenes in the boys' lives are shadowed by dread.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    70
    The movie can't help but resonate with a ripped-from-the-headlines topicality.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    A speculative re-enactment of the 1999 Columbine slaughter, told from the point of view of two suburban high school nihilists as they videotape themselves preparing for the last and "best day" of their lives.
  12. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    60
    Both Robertson and Keuck are frighteningly good, and director Coccio imagines their home movies so effectively that his film comes dangerously close to being a how-to manual for aspiring classroom spree killers.
  13. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Melissa Levine
    60
    There's something about that project that feels manipulative and wrong.
  14. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    50
    Meant to be purposefully banal. Unfortunately, there's a thin line between purposefully banal and simply banal, and Ben Coccio's debut feature too often crosses it.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. S.Lavelle
    6
    A rather lazy film; not as insightful as, say, "Elephant." Powerful lead performances cannot conceal the fact that the Coccios are too lazy to attempt to give reasons for the shootings, let alone answers. [***SPOILERS***] (The killers' repeated calls that there are no reasons for their massacre is, of course, a paradox--one Ben Coccio does not even hint at exploring.) 6/10… Full Review »
  2. HaroldG
    10
    Nothing short of a masterpiece!!! Just SEE IT...it's by far the best true-crime movie ever made! Too bad AVATAR ruined it with a crappy release. Not for the faint of heart. Coccio needs to make more movies.… Full Review »
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