Don't look up. Memoires of crooked world

If you had asked me for the most prominent film surprise of the year 2021, it would be definitely Adam Mckay's Don't Look Up. Originally author of relatively cheap comedies, earning his name by the movie Big Short, many expectations were held from a stellar cast the movie had (from Ariana Grande to Chris Evans) and I suppose the movie was able to meet them. Filmed during the pandemic, the cast had to live together with the producers, and the outcome is seen through exhilarating performances. Even though the film depicts the end of humanity, it still manages to be hilarious at times, which is a quality I have to assess only positively. 

The story starts as a PhD candidate at Michigan university, Kate Dibiasski (Jennifer Lawrence), discovers a giant comet the size of Mt. Everest. The problems begin when her associate professor Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), calculates that the comet hurtles toward the planet Earth, which will result in a clash with fatal consequences. 

What follows is a whirlwind of comedy and disaster following disaster, in which humanity seems to ignore the apparent threat of death and catastrophe. The story is disturbing and relatable, especially on two base events that happened very recently: firstly the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the world unprepared. Until this very day, there still exist people who denounce the existence or dangers of getting infected with the virus. Secondly, from the long-term perspective, we can see the blasphemous ignorance concerning the climate crisis that is an ever-present problem no one seems to care about anymore, except for the climate activists. 

Striking me as especially remarkable was the role of president Orlean played by Meryl Streep, as it accurately depicted the state of decadence and corruption in high-class politics. By both small and big felonies in the movie (from appointing an anesthesiologist to be a leader of NASA to being willing to destroy the planet just for the sake of her own selfish profit), Orlean represents a man-made figure allowed to grow in her position by the power of capitalism and lobbying. A prominent billionaire asserting his influence over her is sir Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), bearing an uncanny resemblance to a combination of Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. As Isherwell finds out there are precious minerals on the comet, he refuses to destroy the murderous comet and is willing to put the whole planet in danger just for his own already enormous fortune. Quite a resemblance with real-life figures, right? 

Disinterested president Orlean, her son (Jonah Hill) as the chief of staff and the two astronomers. Source: IMDB

Another especially appealing aspect of the movie is the tiny breaks you might take in various parts of the film's downtime. By having visually appealing representations of texting and publishing posts relating to the toxic era of social media and the speed with which misinformation and misinterpretations occur. An extra place is dedicated to a show called Daily Rip, starring Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, who are doing their best job in various parts of the film to bemuse the astronomers in the message they want to convey to the world. Shiny and pretentious, Blanchett and Perry make an excellent delineation of popular conventional media that only focuses on popular, sweet or reaction-provoking content. Ignorance of equally important information that is not-as-shiny-and-glamorous-as-the-others is a given. 

Interestingly, the author does an entry with the religious depiction, and it appears to be present in various parts of the movie. Apart from the breaks to release the tension of possible incoming catastrophe, the character of Yule (Timothée Chalamet) is contradictory in itself. Being a junkie, indicating possible decay of values in the society and having a deep connection to evangelical prayers, he makes a unique combination of honouring the higher powers and remains one of the most memorable characters, though having only a short role assigned. 

The only disadvantage of the movie is that it comes across as yet another film that is only an outcry into the void. Though critically acknowledged, the urging message of the film failed to be recognised by the broad public, who seemed to be closing their eyes in front of the rather harsh reality. Disturbingly accurate more than ever before, the film's message implies we should better act upon ourselves and our surroundings as the environmental crisis is a shortcoming comet we might not survive if we take shortsighted decisions on moving the problem onto the next generations.