Zero Day
Netflix | Release Date: February 20, 2025
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
16
Negative:
11

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: It’s entertaining, in that old-fashioned way, if not as witty as they used to make them, but the cast, being superior to the material, keep things convincing enough. .... “Zero Day” does grow a little exhausted, a little wobbly, as it nears the finish line. Read full review
60
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: "Zero Day" deserves some credit for voicing serious concerns about the world (and country) we've built for ourselves, but in the end, it doesn't have much to say. Read full review
60
Vanity FairRichard LawsonFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: De Niro is an odd fit for that sort of profile; he’s too gruff, too shaggy to convincingly play such a blandly stalwart, stolid figure. The show around him similarly struggles to turn Mullen into a convincing vessel for its sweeping, pacific message. Read full review
60
The TelegraphAnita Singh Feb 19, 2025
Season 1 Review: Having seen all six episodes, I can also warn you that the set-up is far better than the pay-off. The main reason to keep watching is De Niro, whose star power drives the show. Enjoy watching a master at work, even if he looks as if he could do this stuff in his sleep. Read full review
55
The Daily BeastNick SchagerFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, all the status in the world can’t save it from also being a muddled, labored, suspense-challenged washout. Read full review
50
Screen RantGrant HermannsAug 28, 2025
Season 1 Review: Despite the better efforts of De Niro, Caplan and the rest of the surprisingly stacked ensemble, Zero Day can never really escape the fact it's not full enough to justify its series length. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: Both plausible and contrived, “Zero Day” is sharply informed by real world trends but unbalanced by trying to cram too many hot-button elements into a six-episode melodrama. Read full review
50
IndieWireBen TraversFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: “Zero Day” invites many such quandaries without offering much in the way of satisfying answers. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTim LoweryFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, beyond the casting excitement (and a standout performance by Plemons) and despite all of the high, of-the-moment political stakes and cliffhanger twists, Zero Day feels more like a slog than a gripping thriller that reflects these crazy times. Read full review
50
TimeJudy BermanFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: So vivid is Zero Day’s evocation of contemporary corruption and unrest that its evasiveness on political affiliations plunges it into the realm of the uncanny. We get the sense that Americans were agitated long before the attack, though details remain murky. Read full review
40
TheWrapMichel GhanemSep 4, 2025
Season 1 Review: It starts off with a decently exciting disaster premise, but quickly starts to feel dull and repetitive in its red tape bureaucracy and political machinations. Read full review
40
ABC NewsPeter TraversFeb 21, 2025
Season 1 Review: Robert De Niro, as a former POTUS with integrity, shines in his first crack at series TV, but the double Oscar winner and an A-list cast (love Jesse Plemons) are trapped in a muddled, political thriller about cyber terrorism that is nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is . Read full review
40
IGNDevan SuberFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: At its best, it's only boring. At its worst, it presents a nonsensical vision of bipartisan unity and makes dumb decisions about practically everything from plot motivations to the reality of a massive cyberattack. You're better off watching (or rewatching) Mr. Robot. Read full review
40
Washington PostLili LoofbourowFeb 20, 2025
Season 1 Review: Mullen’s positions and policies are obscured to the point of irrelevancy. And when the few convictions he does espouse are violated, neither the show nor Mullen himself seem to register the contradiction as a moral injury significant enough to require real redress. Read full review
40
iMarianne LevyFeb 19, 2025
Season 1 Review: The series hangs on De Niro’s star power, but he doesn’t have that much to do. For every rousing speech Mullen makes, he has to spend long stretches staring into the middle distance while we are left to guess what’s on his mind. Read full review
40
The IndependentNick HiltonFeb 19, 2025
Season 1 Review: It has limited capacity to surprise, limited interest in provoking, limited ability to entertain. There are worse things in life than watching Robert De Niro’s face for six episodes, but he is let down by material that turns the tortured role of president into a caricature of American earnestness. Read full review
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