The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by
At once cluttered and cavernous, hysterical and static, romantic and cynical, The Zero Theorem works most effectively moment by moment and in the details.
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom, Romania, France · 2013
Rated R · 1h 47m
Director Terry Gilliam
Starring Christoph Waltz, David Thewlis, Mélanie Thierry, Lucas Hedges
Genre Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
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A computer hacker is tasked with solving the Zero Theorem, an impossible mathematical problem whose solution is supposed to reveal the meaninglessness of human existence. But his own search for meaning gets in the way of him doing his job, along with a teenage computer repairman and a seductive love interest.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by
At once cluttered and cavernous, hysterical and static, romantic and cynical, The Zero Theorem works most effectively moment by moment and in the details.
Time Out London by Dave Calhoun
It’s anarchic, sometimes amusing, intermittently tedious, with ideas about digital alienation and the corruption of technology that too often feel blunt and tired.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
It doesn’t really add up to much, beyond a timely reminder that it would be better for everyone to stop uploading and downloading and just unplug and be human.
It’s the tangle of workings-out not the easy answer that are the proof of a theorem, and that magnificent, sparkling, insightful chaos abounds here.
A sci-fi confection that, at best, momentarily recalls the dystopian whimsy of the director’s best-loved effort, “Brazil,” but ends up dissolving into a muddle of unfunny jokes and half-baked ideas, all served up with that painful, herky-jerky Gilliam rhythm.
The Zero Theorem is a spectacle that demands to be cherished — as long as the society Gilliam portrays is a satire, not a prophesy.
The Playlist by Oliver Lyttelton
There’s much to like, from Waltz’s performance to the typically rich production and costume design.
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
Raucous but fatally confused, openly pilfering its central themes from Gilliam’s own 1985 masterpiece Brazil, but with no idea how to develop them.
The film has a ragged charm, a Tiggerish bounce, and a certain sweet melancholy that bubbles up near the end.