Zero Day

Two secondary school students, Andre and Cal, plan an attack on their school and record every stage of the preparation on their own cameras: obtaining weapons, rehearsals, the countdown and the promises they make each other. The film consists entirely of those home videos. Ben Coccio made it after Columbine, starting from the attackers' own recordings becoming public. It offers no explanation; no cause such as trauma, music or video games is proposed, and the two boys appear entirely ordinary. That is what disturbs. The actors are not professionals and worked by improvisation. The ending is given through the school's security camera and the camera never moves closer. Who it is for: viewers who like mockumentary form and films that keep their distance from hard subjects. Who it is not for: anyone who must avoid the subject of a school shooting.