MIFF NOTES: Zero Days (2016, Dir. Alex Gibney)

Alex Gibney comes at us again with another in his seemingly never-ending, ever-varied stream of documentaries. The man is a filmmaking machine. Props to him for not skimping on the quality of product. That said, his films, though stocked with info and well-constructed, do want for personality.

This effort, Zero Days, is no exception. If anything, Gibney exacerbates the issue by giving much of his film over to a CGI whistleblower. The vectored face voices insider information on the U.S. government’s stand on the STUXnet worm that tore through worldwide computer systems back in 2010. She’s the cap on Gibney’s frustrating digital paper trail, which sees much of his investigation into the cyber-attack met with blank faces and disavowals, both sources both government and private.

The investigation, much of it covered by the work of New York Times reporter David Sanger, goes high and wide but eventually settles on two well-fingered nation states. Gibney’s pacing in his lead up to the big reveal/confirmation is impressive, and though there is a slight lull in the film’s mid-section (perhaps the focus is a little too tight for a full feature) he is able to pull interest back in as he sets out the international ramifications of these events. His attempt at a second big reveal doesn’t work quite so well.

Zero Days is informative, well-researched and alarming (all things you’ll want in a film covering the state of international cyber warfare) but lacking that certain something that justifies its jump from small screen to big.

Scary but dry.

★★★☆

Trailer:

Zero Days screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2016.

You can check out other films from the festival here.