• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Film
  • DVD
  • Editorial
  • About ScreenFish

ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • News
  • OtherFish
  • Podcast
  • Give
You are here: Home / Film / Zeros and Ones: Ethan Hawke is Seeing Double

Zeros and Ones: Ethan Hawke is Seeing Double

January 18, 2022 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

In Zeros and Ones, a movie about a terrorist plot that the audience never quite catches up to, Ethan Hawke plays JJ, a soldier trying to stop said plot, and Justin, JJ’s twin brother who seems to be behind the plot. But in Abel Ferrara’s film, which he wrote and directed, the mood is more important than the details, and the journey is definitely supposed to be more important than the outcome.

Through a darkened, unsteady lens, the audience watches JJ explore Rome, visit a nearly deserted Vatican, and experience life in the midst of a pandemic (although COVID is not named). But the exploration of the terrorist plot isn’t linear. Somehow, JJ ends up with prostitutes who get … involved, and then he’s forced to have sex with a woman while held at gunpoint. (Do these things really happen? It seems like Ferrara is just aimed at ridiculous smuttiness.)

While I’ll openly admit that I’m not sure either where we went or where we ended up, it’s helpful to know that this is the first film where a star recorded a message to the audience before and after, admitting it’s confusing, praising the director, and genuinely seeming to ask the audience to like the film. I like Hawke’s films mostly, but not this one. Honestly, I’m still not sure what to think of it, other than to realize it was made with a blurring of reality in the middle of a pandemic.

Maybe it’s supposed to be funny, or insightful. Maybe that’s why JJ uses hand sanitizer but gets exposed to STDs. Maybe it’s not supposed to make any sense at all. But the end result seems more art house than entertaining, more private insider joke than an invitation to go along for a ride.

Either way, seeing two Hawkes on screen doesn’t mean it’s twice as good.

Zeros and Ones is now available on VOD.

Share it!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, VOD Tagged With: Ethan Hawke, Zeros and Ones

About Jacob Sahms

Jacob serves as a United Methodist pastor in Virginia, where he spends his downtime in a theater or playing sports

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

THE SF NEWS

Get a special look, just for you.

sf podcast

Hot Off the Press

  • Arctic: Our Frozen World – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
  • Dear Edward: Sitting in Sadness, but Never Alone
  • 80 for Brady: Silly & Sweet and an Absolute Score
  • Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls: Fresh Take, Same Quest
  • Knock at the Cabin: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

where faith and film are intertwined

film and television carry stories which remind us of the stories God has woven since the beginning of time. come with us on a journey to see where faith and film are intertwined.

Footer

ScreenFish Articles

Arctic: Our Frozen World – Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Dear Edward: Sitting in Sadness, but Never Alone

  • About ScreenFish
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 · ScreenFish.net · Built by Aaron Lee

 

Loading Comments...