Zeros and Ones

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1:43

Zeros and Ones

R

2021

1h 26m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

War

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

53 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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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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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Apr 4, 2022

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.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Mar 2, 2022

3/5

It’s minor work – but there is always something there, some restless wounded intelligence, a pugnacious worrying-away at something.

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Max Maller

Chicago Reader

Nov 24, 2021

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.

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D.M. Palmer

Vague Visages

Nov 9, 2023

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.

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Pablo O. Scholz

Clarín

Apr 24, 2023

3/4

Though ideas abound in the film, they lack a connective tissue... [Full review in Spanish]

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Javier Ocaña

El Pais (Spain)

Jun 21, 2022

Zeros and Ones isn't just solemn; it is also pompous and vapid. [Full review in Spanish]

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Colin L

@RT82267207 Mar 27, 2026

This was a US$10 budget movie! 🥱 This has to be the worst movie I have ever watched! It has taken me about 4 years to get through this DVD and is now in it's final resting place - the DUSTBIN! I think Ethan Hawke is a really shit actor!

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Jamie S

@DarthJSha Feb 24, 2026

What the hell was even this. I have no idea what this movie was even about. It's a mystery all right, the mystery is what is this movie about. The acting by everyone besides Ethan Hawke was atrocious.

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Frans B

@FransB Aug 11, 2025

Very dark, literally. I have no idea what Abel Ferrara hoped to accomplish here, well, fortunately the lead actor feels the same it seems😜 This is one very confusing movie

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Charlie R

@RT02126720 Jul 12, 2025

It's just boring and really hard to get into. The type of movie you need to rewatch to make sense of but it's not even worthy of a single watch so the idea of having to subject yourself to another viewing is as unlikely as it is unbearable. Do yourself a favour and give this one a very hard pass.

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Steve C

@RT19610513 Dec 7, 2024

Hawke admits he didn't understand the film in the post credit interview....ok, glad I am not the only one.

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Ed S

@RT94561111 May 6, 2023

Incoherent. Chaotic. It does unexpectedly show how much random death will come into the world after Covid. Ugly , evil, masquerading as good and liberating. Fits with Proud Boys.

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Abel Ferrara

Director

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J.J.

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Zeros and Ones: Trailer 1

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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: Rimsky Productions, Almost Never Films Inc., Hammerstone Studios, Maze Pictures, Macaia Film
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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