Plot
The film, told almost exclusively through Andre's video camera, begins with the introduction of Andre Kriegman and Calvin Gabriel announcing their intention to assault their high school, calling their plan "Zero Day". They keep a video diary on the camera, carefully hiding this from their friends and families. The majority of the film depicts the boys planning, preparing, and explaining some of their motives. There are also unrelated scenes such as the two attending Andre's birthday party, them egging the house of someone they dislike, and Cal going to the prom while Andre works at a pizza place. In one video entry, Cal notes where the name "Zero Day" came from: Cal and Andre originally planned to attack on the first day that had a temperature of zero degrees once they were ready. However, this plan soon proved impractical, and May 1st, 2001 was set as the new date. Wanting their attack to have a memorable name, however, Cal and Andre agreed to keep the original plan's title.
The final scenes of the movie show the boys arriving at school on May 1 and preparing their weapons in Andre's car. Andre confides that he could never have carried out Zero Day without Cal's help, a sentiment Cal echoes. They then run into the school, armed with three pistols (a Ruger GP-100 .357, a Glock 17, and a M1911 pistol), an M1 carbine, and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, all stolen from Andre's father and also his cousin. The entire shooting is then shown through the eyes of security cameras. The dialogue is also heard from the cell phone of a student who is shot and killed. Making their way through the school and shooting at anyone they see, Andre and Cal eventually watch law enforcement arriving in large numbers outside after sixteen minutes of shooting. After arguing over whether or not to shoot at the police, Andre and Cal decide to count to three, then shoot themselves. The next scene is set on May 10, nine days after the shooting. A group of youths film themselves going to a park where memorial crosses have been set up. The youths reveal that Andre and Cal killed twelve students and themselves. They find Andre and Cal's crosses and set them on fire before running back to the car. The last scene shows the two crosses on fire before cutting to the credits.
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