Look up! Adam McKay’s new movie, “Don’t Look Up” came plummeting toward Earth, blowing away the record for third most watched Netflix film and taking the spot for itself.

“Don’t Look Up” follows the story of Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and their discovery of a comet that is set to hit Earth in about six months. They go to the White House to inform the president (Meryl Streep) about the comet and much to their surprise, she tells them to “sit tight and assess.” Shocked by her reaction to a catastrophic event, Dibiasky and Mindy decide they need to spread the word to the world. They go to the press and give them interviews on the matter, as well as a big news channel. 

It is made very clear that the world can’t hear what they’re trying to say. After Dibiasky has an outburst on TV there are memes made of her, and suddenly Mindy becomes “the world’s sexiest scientist.” Frustrated by people ignoring the imposing threat of the comet, Mindy has an outburst of his own. 

While this is all happening, the president and NASA plan to blow up the comet to throw it off of it’s course. After the failed attempt of turning the comet away from Earth, the CEO of a big tech company discovers that the comet contains trillions of dollars in minerals. A new plan is devised to safely bring the comet to Earth to use it’s minerals and save the world. During the production of the new plan, Mindy and Dibiasky are now able to see the comet from the ground and people start to believe it’s actually there. At this point the only hope is the new plan made by the CEO. 

This isn’t exactly a feel good-type of movie. As for movie genre, the description reads “comedy/disaster,” although the disaster is there, the comedy really isn’t prominent. There were some great lines and callback jokes but I wouldn’t exactly describe it as a “comedy.” 

As far as the production and script, it was an excellent movie. There was a remarkable cast with many well-known actors. The cinematography was very creative and brought a new perspective to the film with different shots showing life on Earth, especially at the end of the movie. There were some random scenes and clips that definitely could’ve been left out, but most scenes were very creative. 

Especially at the end of the movie, the cinematography and the pacing made my heart dance in my chest. The way that the film led up to this ending and the way they went about filming it made it very easy to empathize with the characters. 

“Don’t Look Up” was also a nominee for the 27th Annual Critics Choice and had lots of positive feedback. Despite the positive feedback, this movie has sparked a lot of controversy surrounding global warming and the environmental issues in today’s world. Some are reviewing this movie based on a political party, and, while I do think they could’ve been more subtle with what the movie was about, it’s not fair to judge the movie itself because of one’s political interests. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s clear that the writer and director of this movie, Adam McKay, had a point that he wanted to make. He brought up many controversial topics in the film like unfit presidents, religion, the impact of influencers and the impact of the upper class. 

Overall this was worth the watch and McKay definitely made his point. It shed light on some very important imposing threats in today’s world that will hopefully make an impact.

Contact Macey Thaxton at [email protected]