A comet is heading directly for Earth. Now what?
I’m not quite sure how to answer that question, but Don’t Look Up has me thinking. Although this witty satire is no horror movie, it is recognizable enough to be alarming.
It spotlights ridiculous, frustrating human behavior—yet remains silly and funny and entertaining. Somehow light; somehow tender.
The story begins with Kate, a PhD student. Her anti-establishment haircut is almost as loud as the rap escaping her headphones. She (like her generation?) is smart, capable, and a bit disillusioned with how disgusting and hypocritical people in power seem to be.
Then she discovers a comet. She does the math with her professor, Randall, and the answer is ice cold: The Earth doesn’t stand a chance.
At its simplest, Don’t Look Up is the story of these two (very different) people trying to warn others about impending danger. Though they’re imperfect—she a bit too cynical, he a bit too science-focused—they’re rational and well-meaning overall. And this is where the satire comes in.
Hardly anyone listens. From the classroom to the newsroom to the White House, the people who learn about the comet either shrug it off or look to exploit it for their own gain. We, like our heroes, begin to wonder how the people of the United States have devolved so. Will rationality not be enough to save the day? Will short-sighted self-interest really propel us into the future? Has it always?
One scene sums it all up. When Kate and Randall are waiting to deliver the news to the President, a military man charges them for snacks. We later learn that these snacks were free. Why did he do that? It’s kind of hilarious, kind of enraging. Kate cannot shake this meaningless greed out of her head, even though all of existence will be over soon.
This movie will undoubtedly polarize its viewers, each of whom might have a different perspective on interactions like that one. It lambasts the ethos of many Americans who believe, for example, that scare-tactics are purely power tools, or that profit is the next step in human evolution. But because Don’t Look Up raises important questions about self-education and the role of the individual in a complicated and dangerous world, and because it does so with humor, I can’t help but like it.