Don’t Look Up- A Star-Studded Satire
A planet-killer comet is directed to Earth, and despite several warnings from scientists, nearly everyone fails to take it seriously. That’s the basic story of Don’t Look Up, the latest film from Adam McKay which premiered on Netflix on 24th December.
Metaphorically it is a climate change awareness movie showing an apocalyptic scenario. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, who stumble upon the comet, rush to the White House with news about Earth’s approaching destruction in six months, they’re forced to wait because according to the office, The President(played by Meryl Streep), has bigger problems to deal with first.
By the time they lay out everything to know about the incoming doom, She would instead wait and do nothing. “What’s this going to cost me? What’s the ask in place?” she says. After learning some more about it she asks to sit tight and assess. Basically she is hesitant to take a chance on addressing this issue since somehow it could affect her chances of getting re-elected because of course that’s more important. After denying that there is a comet directed their way, The President makes her supporters to adopt the slogan ‘Don’t Look Up’.
After being blown off by the White House, the 2 astronomers leak the same scenario to the world, and they become media personalities after which the film ridicules and exposes the reality of media-houses where everybody is either not ready to take anything seriously or in denial of such an apocalyptic event. To be precise Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry play the role of 2 hosts who just talk to their audience with a ridiculous amount of banter and faux even if the news is about the extinction of all living beings on the planet.
Along with that Mark Rylance, plays the role of a Tech giant billionaire whose idea is to track everything pertaining to a human being so as to help them in every scenario. If you are feeling down, his company BASH will make an appointment with a nearby therapist.
The film is not afraid to criticize everyone even if it is the lead scientist where the characters have their troubles on a personal level as well as while conveying the significance of the comet issue as scientists are never 100 per cent sure about a certain thing due to which sometimes the serious messages might sound weaker to a normal being.
Finally, comes the time when the American government finally decides to address the issue,— only because it aids the President, with the help of a patriotic performance where a war hero with the help of a rocket can destroy the incoming comet.
Without giving too much of the movie’s plot away, humankind deals with the extinction-level crisis of Don’t Look Up in precisely the way one would expect — with unconcern, dormancy, denial, mistrust, and instead of having a way to save all beings, in a way attempts to benefit from the apocalypse while billions face death.
