Anyone who sees Ben Coccio's "Zero Day" should definitely know what they're getting into. In it is the kind of subject matter that everyone talks about but no one really wants to deal with; what many a filmmaker would gladly use when they need something for dramatic effect at the end of a film but would never ever look too deeply into. What they fear is something like this film; some sort of realization that all it takes is a little misguidance and not a pair of complete psychos to have such an event as a school shooting occur.
"Zero Day" is the story of two high school students, Andre Kriegman (Andre Keuck) and Cal Gabriel (Calvin Robertson), planning a school shooting. The film is shot brilliantly on digital video in semi-improvisational faux-documentary style. Thus, we feel that we are actually there watching firsthand the planning for the tragedy. We see them as they carefully prepare their assault, go on their preemptory "missions" and execute every last step of their plans.
This is bound to be one of the most controversial films of the year. Unfortunately, I would not be surprised if all distributors, including independent ones, turned down the film simply on the basis of the subject matter. There are those who would also feel that it is a dangerous film, one that goes into too much detail of the preparations. Those who look at it that way will miss what director/writer Ben Coccio and co-writer Chris Coccio are trying to show us.
The fact that makes the film so disturbing is that Cal and Andre are basically nice guys, though many of their morals and views are permanently damaged beyond repair. They are not skinheads, they are not radicals (that is, not until the thought of what they might do crosses their minds), they are just two teens fed up with the whole world around them. One always says that the perpetrators in these events are always the last ones one would expect, but to see it from their point of view is integral to understanding why that is. However, Coccio is not trying to get us to sympathize with them, and rightly so; doing such a thing would turn any viewer off and completely ruin any chance the film has of proving its point. The film is unsettling because it is so unsentimental. We see why, out of thousands of different ways for these teens to deal with their anger, they chose what they do.
What I got from the film was that for Andre and Cal, the need for such destruction came from the self-righteousness they had from being outcasts. They were always called names, always being taunted and teased. Slowly that rage began to build up to become something catastrophic. This makes these specific victims of bullying feel that they have some unique view on life that no one else shares. As Cal says to the camera, "We're doing this because we know more than you do. We know..." Truth be told, they do not. They don't, but the film does.
I said that this may be the most controversial film of the year (and possibly the decade), but this may just be one of the most important as well. What the detractors may not realize is that finding weaponry and learning how to use it, as the film goes into some detail about, is not the main ingredient in a teenager's rage; it is not the only factor that needs to be dealt with. What "Zero Day" teaches us, if one is already unaware, that if any parent lets their child build up such rage, it is already too late. Parents have to talk to their kids about what is troubling them, and they also have to make sure they are not the ones becoming bullies and potential targets. Such violent behaviors are products of feelings that start early.
Kudos to the cast, who bravely use their real first names and whose real parents are actors in the film. Not a single wrong note is struck, not a single line feels falsified or dumbed down. Andre Keuck and Calvin Robertson are so creepy mainly because they never break down into hysterics, that for the whole film we believe that they think that they are really doing what is best for them and the community around them.
"Zero Day" is not for everyone. The squeamish should avoid it, seeing as the last ten minutes or so are some of the most disturbing pieces of filmmaking I have ever encountered. Nor is the film for those who have any presumptuous opinions before they have sat down; the film requires one to go in with an open mind. It is a brave, no-holds-barred film the likes of which the public may never see again.
