With its clear message on climate change, Mckay and a star-studded cast both succeed and fail at accomplishing their goals for the Netflix film.
Don’t Look Up follows the story of Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomer out of Michigan State University and his PhD student, Kate Dibiansky. The two find evidence of an extinction level asteroid headed straight for Earth. While trying to notify authorities, and eventually the entire world, the scientists are faced with bureaucratic red tape, fear mongering, and ultimately, denial of their findings from the most powerful people on earth.
Adam McKay, the director of Don’t Look Up, is an extremely prolific comedy director, producer and writer. He has directed blockbuster movies such as Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and Anchorman. In 2016, he received the best adapted screenplay academy award for the Big Short, along with 11 other awards for his writing and directing. Don’t Look Up was written, produced and directed by McKay, showcasing his adeptness at satire. Although Don’t Look Up does not possess any singularly unique qualities that may make McKay’s work distinctive to him, it is skilfully crafted and strategic in all of its facets.
Cinematographically, the movie contains shots of the actor’s faces, deep in thought or expressing an emotion, emphasising the mood of the scene. Throughout the movie, there are also short clips that illustrate the natural beauty earth provides. Instead of a regular cut scene, clips of bugs on leaves or babies taking their first steps add a sense of realism and seriousness to the movie that is otherwise lighthearted and ridiculous.
The cast of Don’t Look Up is full of recognizable faces and extremely talented actors. Among the all-star cast are Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Timothée Chalamet. Before the movie was released, the well-known cast created excitement and anticipation around the release.
Popular music artists Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi also made appearances in the movie, playing dramatic pop stars whom the media reported about rather than reporting about the earth-destroying comet. The two artists released an original song in the movie, “Just Look Up,” that further satirized the priorities of the American public, whose attention could only be caught once popstars took the initiative to bring attention to the comet. With lyrics such as “Listen to the goddamn qualified scientists,” the message is clear.
All of the actors in the movie gave exceptional performances, despite most of them not being known as comedy actors. Jennifer Lawrence played the nervous and frustrated PHD candidate, Kate Dibiaski, who originally made the discovery of the comet. Although her character is sarcastic and she had many funny, lighthearted moments, her character also must grapple with the responsibility of informing the earth of her disturbing discovery. Lawrence portrayed the conflicting emotions of her complex character with finesse, giving a funny and moving performance.
As McKay and star Dicaprio have explained, Don’t Look Up contains multiple social commentaries prevalent in the world today. The most prominent and perhaps most important stems from the problem of climate change, represented by Comet Dibiaski itself in the film. A comet hurtles toward Earth, a fact proved repeatedly by multiple people in the scientific community. All of this work and proof, however, is overshadowed by a need for spectacle. Even when the people of Earth were able to see the comet, they started the “Don’t Look Up” campaign, powered by the leaders inside the US government. The movie critiques the utter ignorance of today’s society even to tangible problems that will cause dire problems for themselves and future generations.
With Jonah Hill’s portrayal of the White House Chief of Staff, the film also critiques nepotism, especially in American politics. The entirety of the film, however, could also be looked at from a perspective of general science denial. As the country has faced the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, many have continually denied the success, efficiency, and usefulness of masks, social distancing, vaccines, and other proven protective measures. This phenomenon can be seen explicitly in Don’t Look Up.
Critics, however, have some qualms about the movie itself. Some argue that the movie is unnecessarily long, and it’s absurd satire felt too forced. These critiques argue that the film’s important point was lost. Most everyone, though, agrees that the film holds a powerful message about climate change, distraction, and American politics today.
As for the actual scientific accuracy of the movie, McKay worked with Dr. Amy Mainzer, a professor at University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Mainzer has also headlined NASA’s NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) project, where scientists have sorted through thousands of tons of space material for large extraterrestrial objects.
In an interview with Universe Today, Maizer says her team “helped design the comet — one that would fit the bill for the movie, but also be scientifically accurate. We described the circumstances of the discovery — how such an object might be recognized, how the trajectory would be determined, and how the scientists would react as they started to learn more about the object. The other part was to help portray scientists as human beings: what are we like, and how do we communicate science? Sometimes we succeed when we communicate, other times we do have challenges.”
Mainzer continues, saying that her job went beyond the actual realism of the comet but how scientists interact with the media and the public as well. “As a science communicator, you are deeply steeped into trying to translate complex technical ideas into words that everyone will understand,” she says. “The movie is about how scientists try to take what we are learning about the world and bring that knowledge to everyone else so that decisions can be made based on science.”
The comedy in Don’t Look Up conveyed the serious theme of climate change using satirical dialogue and situations. The frustration of the scientific community was often lighthearted and funny while still communicating the urgency of the issue.
There were also recurring bits throughout the movie, such as Kate’s fixation on the army general charging her for free snacks, and her sarcastic approach to matters of “national security.” All of the important figures in the movie are portrayed as immature and much of the comedy lies in the ridiculousness of their actions.
Meryl Streep gave an exceptionally funny performance, despite not being known as a comedy actress. She played the uncaring, corrupted president, Janie Orlean, satirizing the current state of American politics. Her portrayal as President Orlean was funny and alarmingly reminiscent of actual political events.
The soundtrack of Don’t Look Up was artfully crafted by Nicholas Brittel, award-nominated composer of films like If Beale Street Could Talk and Moonlight. The music utilizes the sound of bells, chimes, and synth to give the viewer a feeling of suspension. This technique is used often in space movies, seen in Hans Zimmer’s score of Interstellar or Steven Price’s Gravity. Brittel, however, escapes this stereotype with breakout numbers like “Don’t Look Up Main Theme” where harmonious trumpets and pianos give the song a jazz-like feel. The music is fast paced, completely at odds with the rest of the soundtrack. The choice to make this song the main theme almost adds to the absurdity and satirization McKay tried to accomplish with the film.
With its $75 million budget, Don’t Look Up had many different shoes to fill, one of them being the impressive special effects necessary to make a successful science fiction movie. The film accomplished this task efficiently, the full extent of which was noticeable in the climactic end shot where the meteor finally made impact.
Don’t Look Up received mixed reviews, but was a popular addition on Netflix, and was in the top 5 most watched movies for over 3 weeks. However, due to the renowned cast, popular director and lofty budget, many were left disappointed with the final product.
Despite the underwhelming final product, Don’t Look Up is a relatable satire that discusses important social issues. When looking for a fun, entertaining movie, Don’t Look Up is a good choice.
