''Don't Look Up'' is a 2021 American
political satire
Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned.
Political satir ...
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
film written, co-produced, and directed by
Adam McKay from a story he co-wrote with
David Sirota.
It stars an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to the po ...
featuring
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
,
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress and producer. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The List of high ...
,
Rob Morgan,
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill (born Jonah Hill Feldstein; December 20, 1983) is an American actor. List of awards and nominations received by Jonah Hill, The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA ...
,
Mark Rylance,
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...
,
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Hal Chalamet ( ; born December 27, 1995) is an American and French actor. List of awards and nominations received by Timothée Chalamet, His accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to ...
,
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
,
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...
,
Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...
,
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...
, and
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
. The film tells the story of two
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
s attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The
impact event
An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or meteoroids and have minimal effe ...
is an allegory for
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, and the film is a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
of government, political, celebrity, and media indifference to the
climate crisis
''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...
.
Produced by McKay's
Hyperobject Industries and
Bluegrass Films, the film was announced in November 2019. Originally set for a theatrical release by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
, the distribution rights were acquired by
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
several months later. Lawrence became the first member of the cast to join, with DiCaprio signing on after his discussions with McKay on adjustments to the script; the rest of the cast was added through 2020. Filming was initially set to begin in April 2020 in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, but it was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
; it eventually began in November 2020 and wrapped in February 2021.
''Don't Look Up'' began a limited theatrical release on December 10, 2021, before streaming on Netflix on December 24. It was praised for the cast's performances and the musical score, but critics were divided on the merits of McKay's satire: some found it deft, while others criticized it as smug and heavy-handed. ''Don't Look Up'' was named one of the top ten films of 2021 by the
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...
and
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
. It received four
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations (including
Best Picture), four
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
nominations (including
Best Picture – Musical or Comedy), six
Critics' Choice Award nominations, (including
Best Picture), and also won
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
at the
74th Writers Guild of America Awards. The film set a new record for the most viewing hours in a single week on Netflix, and went on to become the
second-most-watched movie on Netflix within 28 days of release.
Plot
Kate Dibiasky, a doctoral candidate in
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
, discovers a previously unknown
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
. Her adviser, Doctor Randall Mindy, confirms that it will collide with Earth in approximately six months and is large enough to cause a global
extinction event
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...
.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
verifies the findings, and Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, head of their
Planetary Defense Coordination Office, accompanies Dibiasky and Mindy to present their findings to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
. However, they are met with apathy from
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Janie Orlean and her
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
Jason Orlean, who is also her son.
Oglethorpe encourages Dibiasky and Mindy to leak the news to the media, which they then do, on ''The Daily Rip'', a popular
morning talk show. When hosts Jack Bremmer and Brie Evantee treat the topic lightly, Dibiasky loses her temper and angrily rants about the threat before she flees the scene. Mindy receives public approval for his looks, while Dibiasky becomes the subject of negative
meme
A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s for her on-air behavior. Public reaction is muted, and the whole thing is downplayed by NASA Director Jocelyn Calder, a top
donor
A donor in general is a person, organization or government which donates something voluntarily. The term is usually used to represent a form of pure altruism, but is sometimes used when the payment for a service is recognized by all parties as re ...
to Orlean with no background in astronomy. When Orlean's sexual relations with Supreme Court nominee Sheriff Conlon hit the front page, the president tries to divert public attention to the looming threat of the comet, announcing a project to use nuclear weapons to
strike and divert the comet.
The mission successfully launches, but Orlean abruptly aborts it when Peter Isherwell, the billionaire CEO of BASH Cellular and another top donor, discovers that the comet contains trillions of dollars worth of
rare-earth elements. The White House agrees to commercially exploit the comet by fragmenting and recovering it from the ocean, using technology proposed by BASH in a scheme that has not undergone
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...
. Orlean sidelines Dibiasky and Oglethorpe while hiring Mindy as the
National Science Advisor. Dibiasky attempts to mobilize public opposition to the scheme but gives up under threat from Orlean's administration. Mindy becomes a prominent voice advocating for the comet's commercial opportunities and begins an affair with Evantee.
World opinion is divided among people who believe the comet is a severe threat, those who decry alarmism and believe that mining a destroyed comet will create jobs, and those who deny that the comet even exists. When Dibiasky returns home to
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, her parents kick her out of the house and she begins a relationship with a young man named Yule, a shoplifter she meets at her retail job. After Mindy's wife confronts him about his infidelity, she returns to Michigan without him. Mindy questions whether Isherwell's technology will be able to break apart the comet, angering the billionaire. Becoming frustrated with the administration, Mindy finally breaks down and rants on national television, criticizing Orlean for downplaying the impending apocalypse and questioning humanity's indifference.
Cut off from the administration, Mindy reconciles with Dibiasky as the comet becomes visible from Earth. Mindy, Dibiasky, and Oglethorpe organize a protest campaign on
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
, telling people to "Just Look Up" and call on other countries to conduct comet interception operations. Simultaneously, Orlean starts an anti-campaign telling people "Don't Look Up". Orlean and BASH cut
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
out of the rights for the comet-mining deal, so they prepare their own joint deflection mission, only for their spacecraft to explode. As the comet becomes larger in the sky, Orlean's supporters start turning on her administration. BASH's attempt at breaking the comet apart goes awry and everyone realizes that humanity is doomed.
Isherwell, Orlean, and others in their elite circle board a
sleeper spaceship designed to find an
Earth-like planet, inadvertently leaving Jason behind. Orlean offers Mindy two places on the ship, but he declines, choosing to spend a final evening with his friends and family. As expected, the comet strikes off the coast of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, causing a worldwide disaster and triggering an
extinction-level event. In a
mid-credits scene
A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually i ...
, the 2,000 people who left Earth before the comet's impact land on a lush alien planet 22,740 years later, ending their period of
suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. States of suspended animation are common in micro-organisms and some plant tissue, such as seeds. Many animals, including l ...
. They exit their spacecraft naked and admire the habitable world. However, Orlean is suddenly killed by a bird-like predator (a death predicted by BASH's algorithms), one of a pack that surrounds the planetary newcomers. In a
post-credits scene
A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...
back on Earth, it is revealed that Jason managed to survive the impact. He records himself, declaring himself the "last man on Earth" and asking any viewers still alive to "like and subscribe".
Cast
*
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
as Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomy professor at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
(MSU) and Kate's teacher
*
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress and producer. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The List of high ...
as Kate Dibiasky, an MSU doctoral candidate in astronomy
*
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
as Janie Orlean, the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
.
*
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...
as Brie Evantee, co-host of ''The Daily Rip''
*
Rob Morgan as Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, head of the
Planetary Defense Coordination Office
*
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill (born Jonah Hill Feldstein; December 20, 1983) is an American actor. List of awards and nominations received by Jonah Hill, The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA ...
as Jason Orlean, the
White House Chief of Staff
The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States.
The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
and President Orlean's son.
*
Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwell, the billionaire CEO of the fictitious tech company BASH and one of Orlean's top donors.
*
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...
as Jack Bremmer, the co-host of ''The Daily Rip''
*
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Hal Chalamet ( ; born December 27, 1995) is an American and French actor. List of awards and nominations received by Timothée Chalamet, His accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to ...
as Yule, a young shoplifter whom Kate befriends
*
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
as Colonel Benedict Drask, war veteran and
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
recipient who is sent up with the initial launch to divert the comet
*
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...
as Riley Bina, an international pop music star
*
Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...
(credited as his real name Scott Mescudi) as DJ Chello, an international rapper who becomes Riley's fiancé on ''The Daily Rip''
*
Himesh Patel as Phillip Kaj, a journalist at ''Autopsy'' and Kate's boyfriend
*
Melanie Lynskey as June Mindy, Dr. Randall Mindy's wife
*
Michael Chiklis as Dan Pawketty, the host of the conservative ''Patriot News Network''
*
Tomer Sisley as Adul Grelio, the senior editor at the ''New York Herald''
*
Paul Guilfoyle
Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...
as
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Stuart Themes,
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
liaison to the White House
*
Robert Joy as Congressman Tenant, a congressman and follower of Janie
Other cast members include Kevin Craig West as the
Secretary of State; Erik Parillo as Sheriff Conlon, Orlean's choice for
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice who ends up in a sex scandal with Orlean;
Jon Glaser as Meow Man; Sarah Nolen as the puppeteer of Sammy; Allyn Burrows as Mr. Dibiasky, the father of Kate; and Tori Davis Lawlor as Mrs. Dibiasky, the mother of Kate.
Additionally, Robert Hurst Radochia and Conor Sweeney appear as Randall and June's sons, Evan and Marshall Mindy.
Hettienne Park appears as Dr. Jocelyn Calder, the
Administrator of NASA
The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national List of space agencies, space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible ...
. Chris Everett appears as Paula Woods, chief editor at the ''New York Herald''.
There are cameo appearances by
Liev Schreiber as the BASH narrator, journalist
Ashleigh Banfield as Dalia Hensfield,
Sarah Silverman as comedian Sarah Benterman, Bollywood actor
Ishaan Khatter as Raghav Manavalan, and
Chris Evans in an uncredited role as film actor Devin Peters, who stars in the film ''Total Devastation''.
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
and
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon (; born June 10, 1962) is an American actress and singer. She has starred in such films as ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat'' (1988), '' Showgirls'' (1995), '' Bound'' (1996), '' Face/Off'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Dem ...
were cast for undisclosed roles in the film, but their scenes were cut.
Production
Produced by
Hyperobject Industries and
Bluegrass Films, the film was announced in November 2019 and sold by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
to
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
several months later.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress and producer. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The List of high ...
became the first member of the cast to join, with
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
signing on after his discussions with McKay on adjustments to the script; the rest of the cast was added through 2020.
After ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' was released,
David Sirota asked
Adam McKay to use his "superpowers of humor and writing" to create a
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
movie that would be different from the ''
Mad Max
''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
''-type post-apocalyptic films that had previously been released. In an interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', McKay described how he and Sirota came up with the premise of ''Don't Look Up'' while discussing the existential threat of
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
and their frustration over the lack of
media coverage it was receiving:
I started talking to a lot of limatescientists. I kept looking for good news, and I never got it. Everything I was hearing was worse than what I was hearing on the mainstream media. So I was talking to avid Sirota and we were both just like, "can you believe that this isn't being covered in the media? That it's being pushed to the end of the story? That there's no headlines?" And Sirota just offhandedly said, "it's like a comet is heading to Earth and it's going to destroy us all and no one cares." And I was like, "that's the idea!"
McKay has described the film as a "blend of broad comedy" with elements of
disaster film
A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...
s and
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
s.
Astronomer
Amy Mainzer
Amy Mainzer (born January 2, 1974) is an American astronomer, specializing in astrophysical instrumentation and infrared astronomy. She was the deputy project scientist for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and is the principal investigator ...
, principal investigator of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
NEOWISE
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and nu ...
mission that tracks
near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...
s, served as an "astrotech adviser" for the film. She provided scientific advice and supported with writing scenes from an early stage of production.
On November 8, 2019, it was announced that
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
would distribute the film, with
Adam McKay writing, directing and producing under his
Hyperobject Industries banner. On February 19, 2020, Netflix acquired the film from Paramount and
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress and producer. She is known for starring in both action film franchises and independent dramas, and her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. The List of high ...
was cast in the film.
On May 12, 2020, it was announced that
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...
had joined the film. In September 2020,
Rob Morgan joined the cast. In October 2020, DiCaprio,
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
,
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill (born Jonah Hill Feldstein; December 20, 1983) is an American actor. List of awards and nominations received by Jonah Hill, The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA ...
,
Himesh Patel,
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Hal Chalamet ( ; born December 27, 1995) is an American and French actor. List of awards and nominations received by Timothée Chalamet, His accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to ...
,
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...
,
Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi) and
Tomer Sisley were added.
McKay wrote the part of Dibiasky specifically for Lawrence, and spent four to five months going over ideas with DiCaprio, tweaking the script before the actor ultimately signed on. In November 2020,
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...
,
Melanie Lynskey and
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
joined the cast.
Mark Rylance and
Michael Chiklis were revealed as part of the cast in February 2021.
Paul Guilfoyle
Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...
was announced in May.
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
was also cast and had scenes filmed with Hill that were ultimately cut from the final film due to health issues.
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon (; born June 10, 1962) is an American actress and singer. She has starred in such films as ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat'' (1988), '' Showgirls'' (1995), '' Bound'' (1996), '' Face/Off'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Dem ...
also filmed a scene with DiCaprio and Blanchett that was cut from the film. Leonardo DiCaprio received
top billing on the film's posters and the trailers while Jennifer Lawrence was accorded top billing at the beginning of the film itself. This was also the case with earlier productions ''
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (1962) with
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
and
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
and ''
All the President's Men
''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...
'' (1976) with
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...
and
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Filming commenced on November 18, 2020, at various locations in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts. Part of the film takes place in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
with Boston standing in as New York. Filming also took place in other Massachusetts cities including
Brockton,
Framingham, and
Westborough. On February 5, 2021, Jennifer Lawrence was mildly injured during filming when a controlled glass explosion went awry. Filming wrapped on February 18, 2021.
Lawsuit
On December 6, 2023, Adam McKay, along with Netflix, was sued for copyright infringement over ''Don't Look Up''. William Collier, an author from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, claimed that he is the original writer of the story, set in Baton Rouge, called "Stanley's Comet", which he self-published in 2012. Collier's daughter worked for Jimmer Miller Entertainment, part of McKay's management team until 2015. Collier alleges that his daughter submitted the text to Mosaic Media Group and it was then received by McKay's manager. "Since Stanley’s Comet was received by McKay’s manager, custom and practice in the entertainment industry dictates that this constitutes receipt by McKay," writes Steven Lowe, a lawyer for Collier, in the suit. "Furthermore, upon information and belief, the Novel was transmitted via courier, email or hand-delivery (or via other means) to McKay himself."
[Netflix, Adam McKay Sued for Copyright Infringement Over ‘Don’t Look Up’ from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-adam-mckay-lawsuit-dont-look-up-1235724840/ ]
"The movie, like the novel, makes a strong political critique of the media, the government, and the cultural elite by showcasing their shallowness and reliance on popular opinion polls and social media algorithms," writes USC professor of comparative literature David Roman. "McKay’s film is also full of satire and humor and — like Stanley’s Comet — moves toward the absurd. In each case, the irony drives the humor and the social critique and does so in the same style and method."
Music
To promote the film, on December 3, 2021, Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi released the single "
Just Look Up", which is also performed in the film. The original score for the film is composed by
Nicholas Britell, who previously scored McKay's
''The Big Short'' (2015), ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' (2018) and the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
television series
''Succession'' (2019–2022); McKay served as an executive producer of the latter. He used a wide range of instrumentation that reflect varied music styles and genres.
He did this so as to give a remainder on the existential crisis on the planet following a catastrophic event as well as the absurdity of how people react to it.
Apart from "Just Look Up", the film also featured "Second Nature" by
Bon Iver
Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...
, which was released along with Britell's score album on December 10, by
Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
, and "Doorman" by
Slowthai.
Reception
Box office and VoD
On February 19, 2020, it was announced that
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
planned to release the film in 2020.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, filming and release of the film were delayed. The film premiered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on December 5, 2021. It received a
limited theatrical release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on December 10, and began streaming on Netflix on December 24. The film made an estimated $260,000 from 500 theaters on its first day, and a total of $700,000 in its opening weekend.
''Don't Look Up'' was the most-streamed English-language film on Netflix during its first week of release with a viewership of 111.03 million hours, the second highest viewership for a movie during its debut weekend on Netflix. It was the second most-streamed-film of the week in the United States according to
TV Time. Per
Nielsen, the film had a viewership of 1.6 billion minutes in the United States. In the second week, it retained its first position with a viewership of 152.29 million hours, which also set the record for highest weekly viewership for any film ever on Netflix.
For its first 28 days, the film culminated a viewership of 359.8 million hours, making it the second most-watched film within 28 days of release on Netflix during this period of time. By March 20, the film had been streamed in 10.3 million households in the United States according to
Samba TV, including 641,000 since the Oscar nomination announcements on February 8.
Critical response
The ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
''
Mick LaSalle praised the film, "''Don't Look Up'' might be the funniest movie of 2021. It's the most depressing too, and that odd combination makes for a one-of-a-kind experience. ... McKay gives you over two hours of laughs while convincing you that the world is coming to an end."
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and said: "From Streep and DiCaprio and Lawrence through the supporting players, ''Don't Look Up'' is filled with greatly talented actors really and truly selling this material—but the volume remains at 11 throughout the story when some changes in tone here and there might have more effectively carried the day." In the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'',
Justin Chang wrote, "Nothing about the foolishness and outrageousness of what the movie shows us—no matter how virtuosically sliced and diced by McKay's characteristically jittery editor, Hank Corwin—can really compete with the horrors of our real-world American idiocracy." Amit Katwala of ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
'' concluded that "''Don't Look Up'' nails the frustration of being a scientist."
Linda Marric of ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal.
The newspaper is published every Fri ...
'' gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "There is something genuinely endearing about a film that doesn't seem to care one bit about coming across as silly as long as its message is heard".
In a negative review, David Rooney of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' called it "A cynical, insufferably smug satire stuffed to the gills with stars that purports to comment on political and media inattention to the climate crisis but really just trivializes it. ''
Dr. Strangelove'' it ain't." Peter Debruge of ''
Variety'' called it a "smug, easy-target political satire" and wrote, "''Don't Look Up'' plays like the leftie answer to ''
Armageddon
Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...
''—which is to say, it ditches the
Bruckheimer approach of assembling a bunch of blue-collar heroes to rocket out to space and nuke the approaching comet, opting instead to spotlight the apathy, incompetence and financial self-interest of all involved." In ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Charles Bramesco wrote that the "script states the obvious as if everyone else is too stupid to realize it and does so from a position of lofty superiority that would drive away any partisans who still need to be won over." In ''
The Sociological Review'', Katherine Cross accused the film of "smug condescension" and wrote it "is designed to flatter a certain type of liberal viewer into feeling like they're the last sane person in the world, surrounded by morons."
Reviews from right-wing publications were nearly unanimously negative. Madeline Fry Schultz of the
American conservative publication ''
Washington Examiner
The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative news magazine based in Washington, D.C., consisting of a website and a weekly printed magazine. It is owned by Philip Anschutz through MediaDC, a subsidiar ...
'' wrote "McKay manages to deliver nothing more than a derivative and meandering 'satire' of capitalism, Donald Trump, and climate deniers that will be forgotten in less than six months."
Kyle Smith of the ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'' wrote it "expends 140 brain-injuriously unfunny minutes... propelling low-velocity spitballs at social media, Washington, tech moguls,
Trumpism
Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing populism, right-wing ...
, and (this detail feels thrown in last minute) anti-vaxxers."
Nathan J. Robinson, editor of American progressive publication ''
Current Affairs'', believes that "critics were not only missing the point of the film in important ways, but that the very way they discussed the film exemplified the problem that the film was trying to draw attention to. Some of the responses to the movie could have appeared in the movie itself."
[ Emphasis provided in original.] Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual.
He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...
, writing in ''
Compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a t ...
'', said "critics were displeased by the light tone of ''Don't Look Up!'', claiming it trivializes the ultimate apocalypse. What really bothered these critics is the exact opposite: The film highlights trivialization that permeates not only the establishment, but even the protesters." In ''The Guardian'',
Catherine Bennett viewed the film as astute and was caustic about the critical reviews.
Journalist and environmental activist
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books.
Monbiot ...
wrote that "no wonder journalists have slated it ... it's about them" and added that for environmental activists like himself, the film, while fastpaced and humorous, "seemed all too real".
Author and activist
Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism and Criticism of capitalism, ca ...
mentions it in her 2023 book ''
Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World'' by saying that "Kate's plight perfectly mirrors the bizarre contradictions of our high-stakes moment in planetary history: we are all trapped inside economic and social structures that encourage us to obsessively perfect our selves even as we know, if only on a subconscious level, that we are in the very last years when it might still be possible to avert an existential planetary crisis."
Bong Joon-ho, director of ''
Parasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
'', included ''Don't Look Up'' as one of his favorites of 2021.
Reception amongst scientists
Since the film's release, numerous
climate scientists and
climate communicators have offered positive opinions on the film.
In an opinion piece published in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', climate scientist
Peter Kalmus remarked, "''Don't Look Up'' is satire. But speaking as a climate scientist doing everything I can to wake people up and avoid planetary destruction, it's also the most accurate film about society's terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I've seen."
Climate scientist
Michael E. Mann also expressed support for the film, calling it "serious sociopolitical commentary posing as comedy".
In an article for ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'',
Rebecca Oppenheimer questioned the film's use of a comet impact as an effective metaphor for climate change, given the large differences in timescale of these differing potential
extinction
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
crisis events and the nature of their impacts, but praised its depiction of science
denialism
In the psychology of human behavior, denialism is a person's choice to denial, deny reality as a way to avoid believing in a psychologically uncomfortable truth. Denialism is an essentially irrational action that withholds the validation of a h ...
and depiction of a botched attempt to address a "planet-killer" comet.
Climate policy expert
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and McKay wrote a joint op-ed in ''The Guardian'' advocating for the value of humour in promoting action on climate change, in contrast with other
media coverage.
Writing in ''
Physics World
''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...
'', Laura Hiscott said that this "genuinely funny and entertaining film" would appeal to scientists, who would appreciate the "nods to academia such as the importance of
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...
, the 'publish or perish' problem and the issue of senior academics getting the credit for their PhD students' discoveries".
One of the scenes in the film was compared on social media to a situation in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. In that situation,
microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...
and science communicator
Natália Pasternak Taschner criticized a news report made by
TV Cultura
TV Cultura, or simply Cultura, is a free Brazilian non-commercial public television network headquartered in São Paulo and a part of Father Anchieta Foundation, a non-profit foundation funded by the São Paulo State Government. It focuses on ...
on a live broadcast in December 2020. They told the Brazilian population to face the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
with "lightness", minimizing the risks. They also put pressure on the public to be content and uncritical of the
Jair Bolsonaro
Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
administration's lack of effective response to the pandemic. Hearing about the comparisons, Pasternak thanked McKay, DiCaprio and Lawrence on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, with the video subtitled in English, for the "incredible" film.
Accolades
Analysis and themes
The topic of
science communication
Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...
is at the forefront of the film, as it revolves around Mindy and Dibiasky, two scientists, struggling to share the news of their discovery with politicians, talk show hosts, and civilians who are ignorant about the scientific facts of humanity's impending destruction by Comet Dibiasky. Many academic scholars of media and communication have written commentaries that analyze and critique the portrayal of science communication in the film.
U.S. centrism
In the ''
Journal of Science Communication'', Niels G. Mede writes "the film depicts sharp partisan divides, strong affective polarization, high distrust toward science within certain social milieus, and pronounced news media
sensationalism
In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...
, which have been found to be characteristic of the United States but not, or to a lesser extent, of several countries other than the US."
From the same journal, writer Julie Doyle remarked that, "yet, as the film critiques existing structures and systems it does not imagine an alternative set of realities, nor explain the comet's cause. In focusing upon the fictional stories of scientists, politicians, and media celebrities, the film fails to center any marginalized voices, continuing to privilege global north perspectives, even as these are satirised."
Doyle comments that "climate communication needs to keep in place both climate mitigation and adaptation, making the historical and structural inequalities of capitalism and colonialism the interconnected stories of both."
Media training for scientists
One solution to Mindy and Dibiasky's failed attempts to communicate the severity of the impending comet is undergoing
media training, which was brought up in the film multiple times, such as at the conference room at the ''New York Herald'' where the Chief Editor proposes media training to Mindy before the show. The concept of media training can come in different forms. Samer Angelone, in a commentary journal on science communication, writes, "The style that scientists use to communicate science to peer scientists is mostly objective, complex, and full of technical jargon, which is difficult for the general public to connect to—even if it is in the same language."
Another way to mitigate science skepticism is through storytelling. Mede writes, "The film also illustrates that storytelling can be a promising strategy to mitigate these reservations ... showing how Mindy is advised before a TV interview that he is 'just telling a story' and must 'keep it simple.'"
Gendered emotions in scientific communication
Gendered discourse on emotions and mental health make its way into the film through the portrayal of the public's reaction to Mindy and Dibiasky's various media appearances. The scientists share their discovery on a morning talk show, ''The Daily Rip'', in which Dibiasky has an emotional outburst over the show hosts' persistent attempts to sugarcoat the devastating news of the doomsday comet. Professor of media and communication Julie Doyle writes, "
Gendered norms affect Mindy and Dibiasky's public credibility and the mitigatory comet actions they promote. Following his own emotional outburst on TV, Mindy is subsequently recuperated through processes of celebritisation ... hailed as a 'sexy' scientist offering rational and calm advice to the viewers; becoming chief science advisor to the White House to monitor the drone activities of tech billionaire Peter Isherwell; and embarking on a sexual affair with Evantee. In contrast, Dibiasky is discredited and side-lined from rational public commentary through (climate) memes."
Easter eggs
Throughout the film, many historic figures from science and politics can be spotted, adding to the film's nuanced discussion about the relationship between science and politics.
The opening scene of the film features a figure of
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...
on Dibiasky's desk. In a journal commentary for ''Science Communication'', Samer Angelone writes that "Sagan was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, and astrobiologist but, above all, he was an upholder of scientific credibility and communication."
Sagan advocated for the urgency to battle climate change, and many viewers see the film as an allegory for him, but his image is juxtaposed by a painting of
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
, "who later tried to downplay this urgency."
The film also "references the affinity of anti-science resentment and populism, showing how President Orlean and her team slander Mindy and Dibiasky using populist rhetoric ... and gather in an Oval Office that has a portrait of the anti-establishment science skeptic Andrew Jackson."
The film ends with a scene that reflects the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...
. Dr. Mindy, his family, Kate, Yule, and Teddy all sit around a dinner table and engage in a hand-held prayer, spoken by Yule. After the prayer, Kate Dibiasky gives Yule a kiss, and moments later Comet Dibiasky destroys Earth.
See also
*
Double Asteroid Redirection Test
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a NASA space mission aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects (NEOs). It was designed to assess how much a spacecraft impact deflects an asteroid through its trans ...
– a real NASA mission to test deflection of an asteroid in 2022
*
Climate change in popular culture
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
Official screenplay
{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
2020s English-language films
2020s American films
2020s satirical films
2020s political satire films
2021 films
2021 comedy films
English-language science fiction comedy films
Netflix original films
American science fiction comedy films
American survival films
Climate change films
Apocalyptic films
American disaster films
Fiction about comets
Films about American politics
Films about astronomy
Films about conspiracy theories
Films about impact events
Films directed by Adam McKay
Films with screenplays by Adam McKay
Films produced by Adam McKay
Films scored by Nicholas Britell
Films set in Illinois
Films set in Michigan
Films set in New York City
Films set in the White House
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Boston
Films shot in Massachusetts
Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Comets in film