Stephen King Praised One of The Cringiest 2025 Releases: “It's Old School”
When Stephen King endorses a show critics absolutely hate, should we be intrigued or terrified? Spoiler: probably both!
For decades, Stephen King has been the undisputed champion of turning everyday scenarios into nightmares. When King speaks about horror or thrillers, true fans listen.
That's why: when Netflix's new thriller Zero Day didn't quite land with critics and viewers alike, no one expected King to come to its defense. Yet he took to Threads with unexpected praise:
“Watching ZERO DAY (Netflix): It's old school, but it's terrific. Great Tucker Carlson-type character. You could say it's a caricature, but Tucker himself has become a cartoon conservative. First 3 episodes directed by Leslie Linka Glatter, the best director of streaming TV, hands down”
What Is ‘Zero Day’ Really About? Behind Stephen King-Approved Disaster
Genres: conspiracy thriller, political drama, cyber thriller.
Cast: Robert De Niro, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Angela Bassett & others.
Zero Day is a political thriller following an investigation of a devastating cyber attack. The series tries to deal with big themes like conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Why Critics and Viewers Turned Against 'Zero Day'
So what went wrong? For starters, many felt the series was trying too hard to be important without saying anything particularly insightful.
The main issue: believability. For a show featuring A-list talent, dialogue fell flat and awkward a lot of the time.
The pacing also took hits, with the six-episode season feeling like a two-hour movie painfully stretched to six hours.
What Critics Are Saying About ‘Zero Day’
- On Rotten Tomatoes, Zero Day has 53% from critics and 53% from the audience.
- On IMDb, Zero Day is rated 7.0/10.
“Unfortunately, all the status in the world can’t save it from also being a muddled, labored, suspense-challenged washout,” The Daily Beast wrote.
“You never finish a scene thinking De Niro and any of his co-stars did anything interesting together, and in a series about a collaborative investigation, that’s a dramatic dead-end,” The Hollywood Reporter said.
Should You Watch ‘Zero Day’ Anyway?
_38375.webp)
Zero Day exists in that strange middle ground: not terrible enough to be memorably bad, not good enough to be genuinely compelling.
So should you watch it? If you've got nothing else lined up and you're curious about what prompted King's praise, sure. Just keep those expectations firmly in check, and maybe have a backup show ready just in case.
‘Zero Day’: Where to Watch?
Zero Day is streaming now on Netflix.
