Zero

This is a slightly amended version of the review for Zero’s presentation at the Glasgow Film Festival 2025.

Two men, #1 (Hus Miller) and #2 (Cam McHarg) find themselves in Dakar, Senegal with bombs strapped to their torsos. On timers, they are given five missions to complete before the time runs out, then they’ll be released.

So ensues a race and chase around the city and environs, carrying out their missions. All the time spied upon by a drone and the cackling voice of Willem Dafoe cajoling them through an earpiece.

Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot, co-written with Hus Miller, Zero is a kinetic tour-de force as the two men are thrust into seemingly impossible situations and tasks. As they are completed so the motives start to become clearer, and the viewer gets to learn about the people involved.

That doesn’t mean there’s a whole lot of character development, just enough to get people on their side. Miller and McHarg are excellent starting out at loggerheads then learning to work together, with some element of force too.

There’s some comedy though seen as a whole this is more of a satire (possibly a portent) on power and where that power lies. That there are people who really just don’t care and are out to exploit any given situation because they can and for their own perverse reasons.

On a dramatic level Zero works brilliantly with barely a frame of film going to waste. It’s tightly directed around the action sequences, with dialogue to match. Herbulot provides some breathing space to expand on plot, ideas, and philosophy, some of which could be contentious and possibly anti-American.

Whatever, Zero is likely to generate some discussion, but primarily it is a first-rate thriller.

Zero will be in UK Cinemas on 25 July and digital platforms on 11 August 2025.