Robert De Nirostarred in Netflix’s political thriller miniseriesZero Day, which ended up being a big disappointment, but I’m hoping that his upcoming crime movie will make up for it. Robert De Niro has starred in a number of movies from different genres, but he’s still best remembered for his performances in the crime and thriller genres. Some ofDe Niro’s best workswere in gangster movies, which brought together crime, thriller, and drama, and these continue to be the type of projects he’s mostly drawn to. For his most recent TV project, however, he went for a political thriller.
Zero Dayfollows George Mullen (De Niro), a popular former President. When a massive cyberattack causes chaos, disasters, and many deaths across the country, Mullen is asked to lead the Zero Day Commission. The purpose of this is to investigate the source of the attack and prevent more chaos, but in the process, Mullen makes some dark and disturbing discoveries within the government.Despite its premise and cast,Zero Daywasn’t well-received by critics and general audiences, but I’m hopeful that De Niro’s next movie can make up for this.
The Alto Knights Looks Like A Thrilling Crime Movie With Two Great Robert De Niro Performances
The Alto Knights Has A Double Dose Of Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro’s next big screen project isThe Alto Knights, directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi.The Alto Knightstakes the audience back to the 1950s to meet Vito Genovese (De Niro), the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York,and Frank Costello (also played by De Niro), crime boss of the Luciano crime family. When Genovese orders a hit on Costello, the latter is wounded but survives, and he decides to retire from the Mafia – but this is a lot easier said than done.
Nicholas Pileggi is the author ofWiseguyandCasino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, which were adapted into Martin Scorsese’s moviesGoodfellasandCasino.
The first trailer forThe Alto Knightsshows the tone of the movie, which promises to be packed with action and suspense as tensions between Genovese and Costello quickly rise. Having Barry Levinson is also promising, as he’s behind movies like the war comedyGood Morning, Vietnamand the biographical crime dramaBugsy, so he’s no stranger to gangster stories (and could even bring a healthy dose of well-placed comedy).What makesThe Alto Knightseven more exciting for me is the double dose of Robert De Niro, and it’s going to be interesting to see him in two different roles in the same movie.
Robert De Niro Was Good In Zero Day, But The Show Didn’t Live Up To Expectations
Unfortunately, Zero Day Wasn’t The Success Netflix Expected
Zero Dayhad everything to be a hit: political thrillers are usually well-received, and with a cast including De Niro, Angela Bassett, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Modine, Lizzy Caplan, Dan Stevens, and more, expectations were high for it. Unfortunately, and while it did enter Netflix’s Top 10 during its first days on the platform,Zero Dayfell short. At the time of writing,Zero Dayhas a 52% critics and audience score onRotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being that, despite its cast, the plot is “too goofy” for it to take itself so seriously.
Why The Rotten Tomatoes Score For Robert De Niro’s New Netflix Show Is So Low
Robert De Niro headlines Netflix’s 2025 political thriller TV series Zero Day, which has not received great reviews from critics upon its release.
Critics agree that De Niro’s performance is the best part ofZero Day, but also that the plot is messy and convoluted, with the show losing whatever force it had towards its end. Many viewers found the plot of a massive cyberattack, the investigation, and more to be hard to believe, with the show trying too hard to sell it as something serious. On top of that, many criticized the “caricaturesque”characters ofZero Day, who are uninteresting and hard to connect with.
Alto Knights Can Help Robert De Niro Rebound From Zero Day’s Disappointment
Alto Knights Has Better Chances Of Succeeding Than Zero Day
Unfortunately, not even Robert De Niro’s performance inZero Daycould save the show, which was quickly forgotten and overshadowed by other Netflix releases – however,The Alto Knightshas everything to help De Niro rebound from the failure ofZero Day.The Alto Knightsis a return to a very familiar field for De Niro. As mentioned above, he’s best known for his crime and gangster movies, most notablyThe Godfather Part II,Goodfellas,Casino, and most recentlyKillers of the Flower Moon.
The Alto Knightshas bigger chances of succeeding thanZero Dayhad, and it will surely attract a wider audience thanZero Daycould. Even ifThe Alto Knightsdoesn’t succeed with critics and general audiences (which isn’t unlikely), it will most likely perform a lot better thanZero Day, and Robert De Niro’s double performance will get the praise it surely deserves.
