In 2021, writer/director Jean Luc Herbulot released his supernatural thriller Saloum, and it made a mark on anyone who saw it. The story is of three mercs whose plan goes awry, yet places them exactly where they need to be in order to settle old scores. It’s a remarkable film with its own rhythm and energy that make you lean in from the first scene to the heartbreaking last. Herbulot’s latest project, Zero, is having its world premiere at Beyond Fest 2024 and is going to cause the same reaction as before. Co-written with actor Hus Miller (You Can’t Say No), Zero is a localized geo-political thriller with bite as its simple premise unleashes the kinds of questions upon its audience that require proper reflection to come to terms with as there is no peace as long as violence is done somewhere in the world.
Hus Miller as One in ZERO. Photo courtesy of Tableland Pictures.
Separately, two American men awake in Denkar, Senegal, with bombs strapped to their chest: One (Miller), a money man for bad people, and Two (Cam McHarg), a muscle man for his own gain. Given an earpiece from which a voice (Willem Dafoe) can give them instruction, they are told that they’ll be released after they complete a series of missions, but only if they do so before the timers on their bombs reach zero. Time is of the essence and the pressure is on, but the further each man goes to secure their freedom, the deeper into Denkar they must go, bringing fire and pain with them every step of the way.
R: Hus Miller as One in ZERO. Photo courtesy of Tableland Pictures.
The simplest way to describe Zero to unaware audiences is Crank (2006) meets Game Night (2018). Two men on a clock, their lives on the line, forcibly placed in a situation in which every single instance of contact is life-or-death regardless of the seeming safety of the engagement. Every scene is infused with an incredible intensity as each situation is going to have one of two outcomes: they live or they die. This makes each interaction they have, first individually and then together, fiery and unpredictable. As developed by Herbulot and Miller, by throwing the audience in with One, we, too, have little information and, therefore, make several inferences to create conclusions from the start. The difference between us and One is stark at first, if only because (a) we’re not the ones with bombs strapped to our chests and (b) we’re given the gift of being able to hear the news report playing on the bus One wakes up on before consciousness takes hold. This gives us a sense of the situation before its fully-realized for him, a choice that puts us only one step ahead of him, likely as a means of getting us accustomed to the situation so that the shock of it doesn’t distract us from Miller’s performance as One. Much like a zombie film in which the news keeps coming into play to give us extra exposition, so, too, does Zero occasionally give us updates as One and Two make their way, a choice that would be grating used so frequently elsewhere, but is so smoothly integrated into Zero that it enhances the flow, keeping things moving rather than grinding things to a halt for the audience to listen. Even more wonderful, Herbulot and Miller devised a script that absolutely smashes its audience by the end. So caught up in the will-they-won’t-they of the bombs, so lost amid the figurative tree, audiences forget the “forest” in which One and Two forcibly wander until the climax of Zero reveals its full form. Those who have seen Saloum understand how well Herbulot can play with tone and genre, transforming a reclamation/transport mission into a battle against spirits. He does the same here, except trading locals with a penchant for violence for two outsiders thrust into an absurd situation, thus transforming a small interpersonal quest for survival into a precise declaration against global manipulation and a call to stand up.
L-R: Cam McHarg as Two and Roger Sallah as Onaye in ZERO. Photo courtesy of Tableland Pictures.
Much like the opening sequence of Saloum, which uses music and physical movement to set an overall tone, Herbulot uses a score designed by James “BKS” Edjouma (By Your Side (À la folie); Jailbirds (La Taularde)) throughout to help establish the seriousness of the film before it shifts to something a tad more playful as One and Two make their way through Denkar. There’s a smart juxtaposition in on-screen action and the score that helps lighten audience’s response, a concept that helps keep the heightened situation from entirely breaking the fiction before us. For instance, One wakes upon a bus, confused and frightened, only to get into a chase with the local police. This should be horrifying, yet, through the inclusion of a jaunty and playful score, the scene is given a spirit and bounce suggestive of a game, albeit one with terrible consequences for One should he get caught. Hand-in-hand with the score is Grégory Turbellier’s (Dealer) cinematography which never uses a visual filter on Denkar that fits most Western perspectives (re: yellow and harsh), enabling wherever One and Two go in Senegal to be full of color and life, even in dirt-rich and trash-ridden areas. This helps support elements of the narrative that explore the perception of Senegal by outsiders and the country’s rejection of such a perspective. At the same time, there’re several shots which seem structured to give Zero a game-like feel so that the visual perspectives of the characters and their movements through Denkar are akin to pieces moving on a game board. One and Two know that they are pawns, their lives forfeit if they refuse any mission commanded unto them, so the integration of the cinematography to reenforce this notion is brilliantly applied.
L-R: Cam McHarg as Two and Hus Miller as One in ZERO. Photo courtesy of Tableland Pictures.
By keeping the focus on the technical elements (script, scoring, and cinematography), it’s far easier to avoid getting into details that will otherwise spoil Zero. It’s worth noting that both Miller and McHarg (1 Buck) are excellent as One and Two, each bringing just the right odd couple energy in an already heightened situation while also keeping who they are and their arcs grounded. For his part, Dafoe is perfectly cast here, his voice uniquely suited to convey or instill tenderness, humor, and horror as the narrative requires. If by some means one has only seen Saloum in Herbulot’s growing catalogue of work, Zero fits right in balancing humor and horror, action and drama, while telling a small story with far-reaching consequences. Consequences which deserve a great deal of soul-searching and conversation.
Screening during Beyond Fest 2024.
In theaters and on digital April 11th, 2025.
For more information, head either to the official Beyond Fest 2024 Zero webpage or the official Well Go USA Zero webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
Leave a Reply