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In most disaster movies, when the planet is facing a terrifying threat, the world’s leaders…or superheroes…or even just everyday heroes step up to work together and save the planet from destruction. But in Adam McKay’s latest comedy, Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, politics get in the way of saving the planet.
Don’t Look Up braces for global disaster after doctoral student Kate (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), discover a large comet that’s heading straight for Earth. Their calculations tell them that the impact will take place in just over six months—so, with no time to waste, they fly to Washington to speak to the President (Meryl Streep), who already has enough problems (and scandals) on her plate—and, besides, global disaster just doesn’t fit into her mid-term plan. So, without help from the government, their only other course of action is to take to the media.
In order to get their message across, Kate and Randall have to seek out any media outlet that will pick up their story. But, of course, in this age of social media and instant gratification, no one wants to hear a serious message—and they’re unable to get anyone to take them seriously, they just want to be popular and get likes from this website. Meanwhile, the egotistical President only cares about issues that serve her agenda—and these doom-and-gloom nerds from a non-Ivy-League school in a flyover state just don’t fit into her plans.
If any of this sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it’s all just a thinly-veiled recreation of the last couple of years—of how a threat to humanity became a political issue instead of a matter of science, how the issue turned into a social media sideshow, how it often felt more like a playground brawl than an actual global crisis. For that reason, your political viewpoints will most likely influence your opinions. If you agree with McKay, you’ll find it oddly perceptive; if not, you’ll find it completely preposterous.
What it is, however, is spastic and outlandish. The characters are more caricatures than real human beings. And the way the story plays out may feel painfully accurate, but that also makes it somewhat hard to watch. It’s certainly clever, but it’s crazy, too.
Don’t Look Up definitely isn’t a film for everyone. It’s completely absurd and highly political. It’s often amusing in the most ridiculous of ways, but it’s also quite terrifying. And it’s absolutely, totally over the top. And the sheer wackiness of it all makes it an amusing but sometimes exhausting experience.
Don’t Look Up opened in limited theaters starting on December 5, 2021 and coming to Netflix on December 24, 2021.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
