By Avery Ballmann | Staff Writer
“Don’t Look Up” is a satirical apocalyptic film about a comet hurtling toward Earth that will make a catastrophic impact in six months. However, when the scientists bring the news to the White House and the media, no one seems interested.
Equipped with a star-studded cast, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the mentally unstable but good-hearted scientist Dr. Randall Mindy, and the witty doctoral candidate Kate Dibiasky is played by Jennifer Lawrence. Another well-known actress, Meryl Streep, plays President Janie Orlean. Her administration is displayed as chaotic and poorly run, and her chief of staff is her son, Jason Orlean, played by Jonah Hill. There are many other cameos of stars such as Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Rob Morgan, Timothee Chalamet and Tyler Perry. If it were not for this cast, I’m honestly not sure I would have given “Don’t Look Up” a try.
The most frustrating aspect of this movie is how reminiscent it is of the world’s behavior toward climate change. The entire plot of this movie is Dibiasky and Dr. Mindy trying to convince the world the comet is real and it will hit Earth. They host benefit concerts, protests and appear on talk shows multiple times. However, these scientists from Michigan State University are constantly overlooked by White House officials and the press. Though their data has been peer reviewed and confirmed by multiple scientists, the country is divided on whether the comet is real, fake or will not make as big of an impact as they are saying. Again, this satirical element of the movie plays off recent events by using the comet as a metaphor.
I did not enjoy this movie because of how disturbing and depressing it was. It is a psychological film that explores the thoughts of denial, fear, anger and depression of the human mind trying to process the world coming to an end. I will say it is worth watching because it expresses the importance and fragility of this planet and the cast is incredibly diverse and talented.
Adam McKay, the director and screenwriter for “Don’t Look Up,” is an American filmmaker and head writer for “Saturday Night Live.” I will give McKay credit that his humor in this film is more subtle and satirical, which I enjoy more than obvious, cheesy comedy. At first, I didn’t catch the comedic elements but they became more apparent as the movie developed.
This movie is rated R and has a lot of harsh language, but as the end of the world is coming, viewers have to give the characters some leeway in their time of distress. I would not necessarily watch this again, but I do recommend “Don’t Look Up“ for people who enjoy this genre of film. Don’t forget to watch the end credit scene.
