‘Don’t Look Up’ (2021) Review: Apocalyptic Satire Points Out the Absurdity
Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up is an environmental and political satire with a star-studded cast that includes Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, Rob Morgan, Ariana Grande and Mark Rylance. It centres around Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence), an astronomy grad student who discovers a comet. When she shares the discovery with her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio), he realises that it is large enough to destroy the Earth and on course to collide with the planet in six months. Dr. Mindy and Kate seek out help from Dr. Oglethorpe (Morgan) to warn President Orlean (Streep) about the dangerous comet and prepare the necessary course of action; however, their concerns are ignored by the patronising president and her ignorant Chief of Staff, Jason (Hill), who is also her son. The scientists begin a media tour at a morning show hosted by Brie (Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) to warn about the comet but their efforts are once again wasted as Dr. Mindy is hailed a genius and Kate is characterised as a crazy woman while the media and politicians continue to ignore the comet and the upcoming end of the world.
Don’t Look Up is an allegory for the climate crisis and political opportunism that is currently seeping throughout the globe. The characters written in this movie reflect many political and celebrity figures that have taken centre stage to deny the pandemic and climate crisis. Streep plays the Trumpian and Republican figure with gorgeous hair, Hill plays the president’s son who seems like an alternative mix of Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner. Grande and Scott Mescudi, who plays Riley Bana and DJ Chello, perform “Just Look Up”, which seems like a parody version of Gal Gadot’s celebrity sing-a-along of “Imagine”. Blanchett and Perry’s morning show looks like a satirical version of FOX News. The movie also takes note of how the media and politicians have used the pandemic as a way to spread false information about the vaccine.
From the discovery of the comet onwards, the movie is filled with uncomfortable moments that make the viewer scream internally. It features how despite facing an extinction-level event, the leaders and the media are more concerned with politicising it as much as possible while scientists like Kate are left to sit on the sidelines to be dismissed and mocked for being perceived as too emotional. Contrastingly, Dr. Mindy becomes famous and is coined AILF (Astronauts I’d Like to Fuck), and gets a more positive reaction despite the comet being Kate’s discovery. Though Mindy manages to convince the government to take action against the comet, Sir Peter Isherwell (Rylance), a tech billionaire discovers that the comet contains rare-earth elements that are worth more than a trillion dollars. This new discovery leads Sir Peter and President Orlean to collaborate by agreeing to commercially exploit the comet by using new technology, all while ignoring the warnings of scientists who urge against it. Rylance’s character is recognized as a mix of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who doesn’t hide his greed and hunger for profit and sees the Dibiasky Comet as a profit rather than a danger to the millions around the world.
Don’t Look Up doesn’t give any space for the viewer to breathe. The film is chaotic and cluttered as only some characters are used to serve a narrative purpose. This apocalyptic satire represents the kind of reality where it shows that maybe humans don’t want to be saved from extinction. It points out the absurdity of politicians, media, climate deniers, and anti-vaxxers. When Dr. Mindy and Kate explain how it is important that the government should act now instead of waiting, they are ignored. Tech billionaires make no effort to listen to scientists who are more familiar with the comet. Don’t Look Up shows how people are not doing enough to stop global warming, and it’s a reality that touches home.
Edited by: Raayaa Imthiyaz
