Robert De Niro is the face of Netflix’sZero Day, but his star power and talent aren’t enough to earn the 2025 TV show a “Fresh” score onRotten Tomatoes. The political thriller limited series, created by Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael Schmidt,revolves around a catastrophic cyberattack in the United States.A former President, George Mullen (played by De Niro intheZero Daycast), subsequently gets called out of retirement to lead an investigation into the attack before it can happen again.
Zero Dayis only Robert De Niro’s third TV project throughout his career, following the 2017 HBO TV filmThe Wizard of Liesand the 2023 Argentine drama seriesNada.
Over the course of the Netflix show’s six episodes, De Niro’s character faces many challenges and discovers some shocking revelations, all of which lead to the truth behind the cyberattack. While thrillers with numerous twists often perform well on Netflix,Zero Dayhasn’t fared too well in critics' reviews. As mentioned above,even De Niro’s involvement in the miniseries can’t persuade most viewers to giveZero Daypositive scores onRotten Tomatoes.
Zero Day Has 54% On Rotten Tomatoes - Why It’s So Low
Robert De Niro’s Netflix Series Is Deemed “Rotten”
Unfortunately,Zero Dayfalls six percentage points below the minimum requirement for a “Fresh"Rotten Tomatoesscore, deeming it “Rotten.” As of the writing of this article,the Netflix miniseries has a 54 percent Tomatometer score, averaged from almost 70 reviews.Zero Day’s Critics Consensus on the review aggregation website reads:
“Zero Dayhas plenty of gravitas thanks to its all-star cast led by Robert De Niro, but this high-concept series' plotting is a little too goofy for it to take itself so seriously.”
Overall, those who gaveZero Daybad reviews critiqued the political thriller for its implausibility, cheesy lines, dreadful dullness, underwhelming developments,and the story’s lack of cleverness and complexity (but many also called it convoluted). As Verne Gay fromNewsdaysaid, “Interesting idea, otherwise deadly dull.” And that quote is only brushing the surface of what lies inZero Day’s negative reviews.Rotten Tomatoespulled a more thorough, interesting take from Sam Adams fromSlate’s thought on the Netflix limited series. He wrote:
“What we get instead is a pundit-brained muddle designed to exploit national anxieties while studiously avoiding any hint of a point of view, riffing on recognizable figures but ignoring the context that produced them.”
Zero Day’s Audience Score Is Around The Same On Rotten Tomatoes
The Political Thriller Has A 55% Audience Score
In many situations, TV shows or movies that receive “Rotten"Rotten Tomatoesscores from critics (on the Tomatometer) can make up for the negative press withtheir Audience Scores (now called the Popcornmeter)on the website. For example,The Super Mario Bros. Moviehas a 59 percent Tomatometer score onRotten Tomatoes, but its Popcornmeter score is 95 percent. Sadly, that is not the case forZero Day. The Popcornmeter forRobert De Niro’s Netflix political thrillerTV series is almost the same as its Tomatometer as it sits at 55 percent as of the writing of this article.
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The limited series is not only considered “Rotten” by most critics, but the general audience has also deemed it “Rotten.” The flaws they found while watching theTV showZero Daymostly align with critics' reviews.Viewers’Rotten Tomatoesentries claim that the political thriller is forgettable, full of plot holes, and boring.Other reviews stated thatZero Daycontains unrealistic scenarios, poor character development, cringeworthy writing, and a messy plot. Of course, the reviews aren’t all bad. Some foundZero Dayto be an exciting, engaging miniseries that provides an intriguing representation of the state of America today. Plus, most agreed that the cast is phenomenal.
Robert De Niro & The Cast Is One Of Zero Day’s Bright Spots
The Actors Are Zero Day’s Saving Grace
Among all the reviews onZero Day’sRotten Tomatoespage, whether good or bad, is praise of the cast.Many single out Robert De Niro’s performance,which makes sense, given that he is a renowned actor and the star of the Netflix limited series. However, some also applaud Lizzy Caplan, Joan Allen, Connie Britton, Dan Stevens, Angela Bassett, andJesse Plemons for their roles inZero Day. Essentially, the entire cast gives it their all in the political thriller. As a result, the only thing critics and viewers can agree on is thatZero Dayfeatures several impressive performances.
Clark Gregg
Robert Lyndon
Despite allthe praise for the actors and actresses inZero Day,the average critic and audience member gave the show a negative review. Perhaps the cast is the miniseries' saving grace, but their performances aren’t enough to deem the show “Fresh” onRotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless,Zero Dayis trending in Netflix’s top 10, meaning its future remains open.
Zero Day
Cast
Zero Day follows former U.S. President George Mullen as he leads the Zero Day Commission to uncover the perpetrators behind a catastrophic cyber attack. Tasked with navigating chaos and mounting casualties nationwide, Mullen confronts formidable challenges to maintain national security and stability.
