The Zero Theorem is at its best when at its least manic – perhaps, its least 'Gilliam-esque' – lost in the quiet intimacy between Qohen and Bainsley. The Cronenberg and Aronofsky films I mentioned were successful because, for all their vast questions, their focus was narrow and their plots simple. Whether all this makes for a particularly cinematic experience, I'm not sure.
The very point is uncertainty, the propulsive force of our species. We see him at work, attempting to order the universe via a 3D game block game, fighting against entropy against the inevitable demise of conscious matter and with it the question: What does it all mean? The problem is, he's waiting for an answer. Waltz is a fantastic presence – which is necessary, because most of the story plays out in his home: an echochamber of a converted church, whose baptismal font now serves as a washing up bowl. But don't expect a script of Tom Stoppard wit, swerve, and clarity. There are definite touches of Gilliam's 1985 masterpiece here, particularly the awkward marrying of archaic and ultra-modern technologies. Both of those films were more coherent and emotionally engaging than The Zero Theorem, although Terry Gilliam's film grows on you, once you accept that it's not Brazil Part II. And in the Zen imagery of a nude Waltz spiralling through the void, there's a bit of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. There are elements of David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis in Qohen's philosophical quest, in the oddball characters he meets along the way, and his perennial absence of feeling. Everything will return to nothing, so why make something of life? Love, in the form of romance (Melanie Thierry as Bainsley), friendship (David Thewlis), and parenthood (Lucas Hedges) provides Qohen with the answers, but he's too absorbed in his work on the "Zero Theorem" to accept it. Because at the moment it seems like existence is an erroneous quirk in the cosmic standard of nothingness. He's waiting for a phone call from God, explaining the point of it all. There's a black hole swirling at the bottom of Qohen Leth's (Christoph Waltz) soul.
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