ZEROS AND ONES
★★
OUT 7 MARCH (DIGITAL) / CERT TBC / 87 MINS
DIRECTOR Abel Ferrara
CAST Ethan Hawke, Cristina Chiriac, Phil Neilson
In Abel Ferrara’s gritty yet tedious political thriller, shot during lockdown, Ethan Hawke is a soldier called to Rome to stop an imminent terrorist attack on the Vatican. Also searching for news of his imprisoned twin brother, over the course of one evening he traverses the city’s underground world seeking answers. The combination of Sean Price Williams’ lowlight, grainy digital camerawork and Joe Delia’s heavy-on-the-reverb score make for an atmospheric watch. But the edgy uncertainty of the first act becomes an indecipherable hodgepodge of scenes as the film continues. It’s certainly a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the story’s structure and dialogue are as incoherent as the early public-health information.