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Zeros and Ones

Play trailer 1:43 Poster for Zeros and Ones R Released Nov 19, 2021 1h 26m Mystery & Thriller Drama War Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
54% Tomatometer 54 Reviews 8% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Ethan Hawke (Training Day) and director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) join forces for this gritty, tense political-thriller set on one deadly night in Rome. Called to the city to stop an imminent terrorist bombing, soldier J.J. (Hawke) desperately seeks news of his imprisoned rebel brother, Justin (also Hawke), who holds knowledge that could thwart the attack. Navigating the capital's darkened streets, J.J. races to a series of ominous encounters, hoping to keep the Vatican from being blown to bits.
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Zeros and Ones

Zeros and Ones

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Critics Consensus

Zeros and Ones is poorly lit and beset by narrative chaos, but Ethan Hawke's passionate performance is a solid fit for Abel Ferrara's intriguingly idiosyncratic storytelling.

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Critics Reviews

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies a prickly, difficult, even impenetrable mash-up of archetypes and ideas, all wrapped up in the nonsensical intrigues of genre cinema while reaching outward towards something bigger beyond. Apr 4, 2022 Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian It’s minor work – but there is always something there, some restless wounded intelligence, a pugnacious worrying-away at something. Rated: 3/5 Mar 2, 2022 Full Review Max Maller Chicago Reader The paradoxical need for a would-be redeemer of humanity to know sin at first hand animates the film all the way down, from Hawke's passionate performance on through to the kinetics of Ferrara and Williams's seedy roving camera. Nov 24, 2021 Full Review D.M. Palmer Vague Visages An atmospheric but disjointed no-budget thriller. The war thriller is pretty underwhelming fare, but its mere existence attests to the tenacity of its creator. Nov 9, 2023 Full Review Pablo O. Scholz Clarín Though ideas abound in the film, they lack a connective tissue... [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/4 Apr 24, 2023 Full Review Juan Pablo Russo EscribiendoCine Zeros and Ones is difficult to decipher; the film's narrative logic seems to emerge from the music that remains constant from beginning to end. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 5/10 Apr 5, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve S Fucking awful and impossible to follow along. Ridiculous that this movie was even made. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/30/24 Full Review Kevin H An attempt at film noir, okay. Visually there's a lot wrong, starting with extreme low light in all but final scenes, he is carrying a SONY high res video camera that can shoot in 4K and we get less than 720 standard res for video? Contrast maxed out, fluorescing colors, bad focus, dirty lens! Audio was muffled with unclear diction. The plot? What plot? I agree Hawke filled his script shoes well, but the promo first scene was off putting and now I know why... Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/16/24 Full Review Audience Member I began wide awake and optimistic. I dozed mid way, slapped myself awake and back tracked but clarity and light, especially light, never came. I could feel my brain curdling and couldn't make sense of it. I had to find something mindless, bright, with plenty of light. So no I don't recommend it. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/20/24 Full Review Mike B No action. Dark all the time, saving energy use? No dislogue. Waste of time watching this. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/24 Full Review Jeanette H Horrible! Didn't understand anything from start to finish! Very hard to follow! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/24/23 Full Review Dan K Zeros and Ones is the Title and also my Review Score. Discipline, Extreme Discipline, Extreme Professional Discipline. That is what it took on my part to make it through this movie. The entire movie is dark, apply both meanings of dark. Imagine an Editor at the studio. Imagine 3 files all arrive for editing simultaneously, but all 3 labels fall off. One file is for a psychological thriller movie, filmed at night. One file is an 8-minute short about sex and drugs, filmed at night. And the last file is from a teenage American tourist walking around Rome at night, occasionally with the lens cap on or partially on. The editor thinks they are for the same movie and does their best to put them together. Now Imagine it's the first day on the job for the editor. Now imagine that the Editor is visually impaired. Now imagine the Editors new job with the studio is as an Accountant, but they read the room number wrong and walk into the editing room, and figures what the hell, I'll give this editing a go. If you start watching it, which I do NOT recommend you will see what I mean about my extreme professional discipline because I made it all the way to the end. Often when watching slow to start, bizarre movies they tie up loose ends or add a satisfying twist. Nope, not with this movie. It starts slow, the middle is slow, and the ending is slow, and nothing is tied up or satisfying. The only reason you know the movie ended is because the credits start. Then Ethan Hawke comes on as Ethan Hawke to tell you the movie is over. One positive thing I can think of, is that this movie will give hope to screenwriters everywhere, that they can make a movie and it could be shown on Amazon Prime. Midwest Movie Man Dan Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Zeros and Ones

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ethan Hawke (Training Day) and director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) join forces for this gritty, tense political-thriller set on one deadly night in Rome. Called to the city to stop an imminent terrorist bombing, soldier J.J. (Hawke) desperately seeks news of his imprisoned rebel brother, Justin (also Hawke), who holds knowledge that could thwart the attack. Navigating the capital's darkened streets, J.J. races to a series of ominous encounters, hoping to keep the Vatican from being blown to bits.
Director
Abel Ferrara
Producer
Philipp Kreuzer, Diana Phillips
Screenwriter
Abel Ferrara
Distributor
Lionsgate
Production Co
Macaia Film, Maze Pictures, Rimsky Productions, Hammerstone Studios, Almost Never Films Inc.
Rating
R (Drug Content|Bloody Images|Language|Sexual Material|Some Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama, War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 19, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 19, 2021
Runtime
1h 26m
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