Don't Look Up (2021 film)
| Don't Look Up | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Adam McKay |
| Screenplay by | Adam McKay |
| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Linus Sandgren |
| Edited by | Hank Corwin |
| Music by | Nicholas Britell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 138 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75 million[3] |
| Box office | $764,829[4] |
Don't Look Up is a 2021 American satirical black comedy written, produced, and directed by Adam McKay. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The comet is an allegory for climate change and the film is a satire of government and media indifference to the climate crisis.[5][6] Supporting cast include Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep.[5] Grande and Mescudi also collaborated on the song "Just Look Up" as part of the film's soundtrack.[7] The film is dedicated to Hal Willner, who died in 2020.
Produced by Hyperobject Industries and Bluegrass Films, the film was announced in November 2019 and sold by Paramount Pictures to Netflix several months later. Filming was initially set to begin in April 2020 around the US state of Massachusetts but was delayed until November due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and then lasted through February 2021. 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.
Don't Look Up began a limited theatrical release on December 10, 2021, before streaming on Netflix on December 24, 2021. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast but were divided on the merits of McKay's satire: some found it deft, while others criticized it as smug and heavy-handed. Nonetheless, the film was named one of the top ten films of 2021 by the National Board of Review and American Film Institute. It received four nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, and six at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture.
Plot[edit]
Kate Dibiasky, a Michigan State University astronomy Ph.D. candidate doing work with the Subaru Telescope, discovers a previously unknown comet just inside of Jupiter's orbit at 4.6 au from the Sun. Her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy, calculates that it will impact Earth in about six months and is large enough to cause a planet-wide extinction event, which NASA internally confirms. Accompanied by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office head Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, Dibiasky and Mindy present their findings to the White House but are met with apathy from President Janie Orlean and her son, Chief of Staff Jason.
Oglethorpe urges Dibiasky and Mindy to leak the news to the media, which they do on a morning talk show hosted by Brie Evantee and Jack Bremmer. When the hosts treat the topic frivolously, Dibiasky loses her composure and rants about the threat, prompting widespread online mockery. Dibiasky's boyfriend publicly denounces her, while Mindy receives public approval for his good looks. The actual news about the comet's threat receives little public attention. It is denied by Orlean's Director of NASA, a top donor to Orlean with no background in astronomy. When Orlean is involved in a sex scandal with her Supreme Court nominee, she diverts attention and improves her approval ratings by confirming the threat of the comet, announcing a project to strike and divert the comet using nuclear weapons.
The mission successfully launches, but Orlean abruptly aborts it when Peter Isherwell, the billionaire CEO of tech company BASH 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 new technology proposed by BASH's Nobel Laureates in a scheme that has not undergone scholarly peer review. The White House sidelines Dibiasky and Oglethorpe while hiring Mindy as the National Science Advisor to co-opt him. Dibiasky tries 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 those who demand destruction of the comet, those who decry alarmism and believe that mining the comet will create jobs, and those who deny that the comet even exists. Dibiasky returns home to Illinois and begins a fatalistic relationship with Yule, a shoplifter she meets at her retail job. Mindy's wife, June, confronts him about his infidelity, and then returns to Michigan without him.
Mindy, becoming angry and frustrated with the administration, rants on live 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 against Orlean and BASH, telling people to "Just Look Up" and calling on other countries to conduct comet interception operations of their own.
Orlean's administration launches an opposing campaign, "Don't Look Up". Orlean cuts China, India, and Russia out of the comet mining deal, so they prepare a joint effort to deflect the comet, but their spacecraft explodes on the launchpad. BASH's attempt at breaking the comet apart also 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 family, Dibiasky, Oglethorpe, and Yule. As expected, the comet hits Earth, causing global disaster and seemingly killing everyone on the planet.
After 22,740 years, the people who left Earth before the impact land on a lush alien planet, ending their cryogenic sleep. They exit their spacecraft naked and mostly empty-handed, admiring the habitable world. Orlean is quickly killed and eaten by an alien creature (a "bronteroc") as others of its kind surround the humans, presumably killing them offscreen.
A post-credits scene shows Jason emerging from the rubble, having survived the comet, screaming for his mother, and trying to post on social media on his phone.
Cast[edit]
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomy professor at Michigan State University
- Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, an MSU doctoral candidate in astronomy
- Rob Morgan as Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, head of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office
- Cate Blanchett as Brie Evantee, host of The Daily Rip
- Meryl Streep as Janie Orlean, President of the United States
- Jonah Hill as Jason Orlean, Chief of Staff and Janie's son. About his inspiration for his character, Hill wrote, "I thought, what if Fyre Festival was a person and that person had power in the White House".[8]
- Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwell, tech billionaire CEO of BASH and another one of Orlean's top donors
- Tyler Perry as Jack Bremmer, the co-host of The Daily Rip
- Timothée Chalamet as Yule, a young shoplifter
- Ron Perlman as Colonel Benedict Drask, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
- Ariana Grande as Riley Bina, a popular international music star and DJ Chello's girlfriend
- Scott Mescudi as DJ Chello, also a popular international music star and Riley's boyfriend
- Himesh Patel as Phillip Kaj, a journalist at Autopsy and Kate's boyfriend
- Melanie Lynskey as June Mindy, Randall's wife
- Michael Chiklis as Dan Pawketty, host of the conservative Patriot News Network
- Tomer Sisley as Adul Grelio, a senior editor at The New York Herald
- Paul Guilfoyle as US Air Force Lieutenant General Stuart Themes, the Pentagon liaison to the White House
- Robert Joy as Congressman Tenant
Additionally, Robert Hurst Radochia and Conor Sweeney appear as Randall and June's sons, Evan and Marshall Mindy. Hettienne Park appears as Dr. Calder, the Head of NASA, while Ishaan Khatter appears as Raghav Manavalan, an online video streamer.[9] There are cameo appearances by Liev Schreiber as the BASH narrator, journalist Ashleigh Banfield as Dalia Hensfield, Sarah Silverman as Sarah Benterman, and Chris Evans (uncredited) as Devin Peters, a film actor.[10] Matthew Perry had scenes filmed with Hill that were ultimately cut from the final film.[citation needed]
Production[edit]
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After Vice was released, David Sirota asked Adam McKay to use his "superpowers of humor and writing" to create a climate change movie that would be different from the Mad Max-type post-apocalyptic films that had previously been released.[12] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, McKay described how he and Sirota came up with the premise of Don’t Look Up while discussing the existential threat of climate change and their frustration over the lack of media coverage it was receiving:
McKay has described the film as a "blend of broad comedy" with elements of disaster films and horror films.[14]
On November 8, 2019, it was announced that Paramount Pictures would distribute the film, with Adam McKay writing, directing, and producing under his Hyperobject Industries banner.[15] On February 19, 2020, Netflix acquired the film from Paramount and Jennifer Lawrence was cast in the film.[16] On May 12, 2020, it was announced that Cate Blanchett had joined the film.[17] In September 2020, Rob Morgan joined the cast.[18] In October 2020, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Himesh Patel, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi), and Tomer Sisley were added.[19][20] 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.[21] In November 2020, Tyler Perry, Melanie Lynskey, and Ron Perlman joined the cast.[22] Mark Rylance, and Michael Chiklis were revealed as part of the cast in February 2021.[23] Paul Guilfoyle was announced in May.[24]
Principal photography was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] Filming commenced on November 18, 2020, at various locations in Boston, Massachusetts.[26] Part of the film takes place in New York City with Boston standing in as New York. Filming also took place in other Massachusetts cities including Brockton, Framingham, and Westborough.[a][27][28] On February 5, 2021, Jennifer Lawrence was mildly injured during filming when a controlled glass explosion went awry.[29] On February 18, 2021, principal photography wrapped.[30]
DiCaprio received top billing on the posters and marketing, while Lawrence received top billing in the film's opening credits.[31]
Release[edit]
On February 19, 2020, it was announced Netflix planned to release the film in 2020.[16] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming and release of the film were delayed.[32] The film premiered in New York City on December 5, 2021.[33] It received a limited theatrical release on December 10, and began streaming on Netflix on December 24.[34][35]
Though Netflix does not publicly release box office grosses, the film made an estimated $260,000 from 500 theaters on its first day, and a total of $700,000 in its opening weekend.[36] Don't Look Up was the most-streamed English-language film on Netflix during the week of December 20–26, 2021 with a viewership of 111 million hours[37] the second highest viewership for a movie during its debut weekend on Netflix.[38]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Reviews on the film have been mixed. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 230 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Don't Look Up aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land, but Adam McKay's star-studded satire hits its target of collective denial square on."[39] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[40]
The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle praised the film and wrote, "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. Writer-director Adam McKay gives you over two hours of laughs while convincing you that the world is coming to an end."[41] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times 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."[42] Reviewing the film for the Los Angeles Times, 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."[43] Shruti Kotiya of Sportskeeda, suggests that "Don't Look Up also feels similar to Mike Judge's Idiocracy, which is set in 2505 America, where mindless entertainment and violence are what really matter. It also sheds light on how the world's collective IQ has hit its lowest, which is why Don't Look Up is like a 21st-century version of it."[44] Amit Katwala, Wired, concludes that "Don't Look Up Nails the Frustration of Being a Scientist."[45]
In a negative review, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "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."[46] Peter Debruge of Variety called the film a "smug, easy-target political satire" and wrote, "Don't Look Up plays like the leftie answer to Armageddon—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."[47] Charles Bramesco, in The Guardian, writes 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."[48] Madeline Fry Schultz of the Washington Examiner wrote that "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."[49]
Nathan J. Robinson, editor of 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".[50] Catherine Bennett similarly viewed the film as astute and was caustic about the critical reviews.[51] Writing for the American socialist publication Jacobin, Branko Marcetic says that the plot of the film, while absurd, hardly exaggerates, noting that "much of our political elite are just as greedy and foolish, our media just as vapid, and our response to impending disaster exactly as mind-bogglingly irrational as in the movie."[52] In contrast, Paul Tassi of Forbes argues that critics can and should examine the artistic standards and underlying message separately and then goes on to describe the film as "somewhat condescending".[53] Since the film's release, numerous climate scientists and climate communicators have offered positive opinions on the film.[54][55][56]
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, climate scientist Peter Kalmus remarked, "The movie 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."[54]
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