“DON’T LOOK UP” CRITICISM: IT ISN’T WORTH IT

Image by Alex Andrews

Released on December 24, Don’t Look Up is one of the most controversial films in Hollywood today. The movie is based on a disaster scenario: the world has six months and fourteen days until a comet the size of Mount Everest destroys the entire planet. Kate Diabiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo Dicaprio) set off on a media tour to warn President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) and American citizens of their wretched fate. The overall response is apathy: most people simply don’t care.

I watched this film twice in a couple of weeks: first alone, and then again with my mother. After the film ended, I cried both times. An apocalypse is inherently distressing, but it is even more upsetting when I realized Don’t Look Up illustrates a realistic scenario–almost too realistic.

Don’t Look Up is an allegory for climate change. Some critics have noted a comet is more similar to the COVID-19 pandemic because its effects are far more cursory than climate change. Regardless of director and writer Adam McKay’s intentions, the film is clear: imminent disaster does not indicate real governmental or societal change. Halfway through the movie, in typical American fashion, political parties divide themselves over the comet’s reality. Despite Dr. Mindy, an astronomy professor, and Kate Diabiasky, a Ph.D. student, supporting their findings with photographic evidence, Americans are still skeptical. On The Daily Rip, a popular talk show hosted by Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Eventee (Cate Blanchett), Dr. Mindy has to dodge questions about the comet’s existence. This is likely where critics see parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. All too often have citizens questioned the legitimacy of not only vaccines but the virus itself. 

The first time I watched Don’t Look Up, I texted everyone I knew and told them they “had to watch it.” Most responded and said they added it to their Netflix watchlist, which was a satisfying response. However, it wasn’t until I met up with some friends in person, and talk of the movie came up, that I began questioning the film’s quality. One of my friends mentioned that a lot of people actually hated the movie. I was shocked. Did I love a terrible film?

After this discussion, I did a lot of online sleuthing to deduce what people thought of Don’t Look Up. My friend wasn’t wrong. Most of the critics online slam McKay’s work, citing it as an “out of touch” piece that “bungled” jokes and “crashed the execution.” People were beyond disappointed that the “to-die-for cast and seemingly can’t-miss premise” failed them. Article after article cites McKay’s work as one of the worst pieces of film they’ve ever seen from him andAdam McKay is no stranger to Hollywood. He is best known for directing and writing Anchorman 2, The Other Guys, Step Brothers, The Big Short, and, most recently, Vice. His resume is extensive and it is beyond apparent McKay knows what he is doing. 

This is why the attacks against the director sting even more. I could not help my frustration on behalf of McKay when reading these reviews. It felt as if every negative critic completely missed the point of the film.

So, I want to dissect some of the negative critiques. Firstly, Nick Allen, a well-known critic, commented on the film’s “out of touch” feel and its lack of commentary on “how misinformation became a political cause.” He was disappointed by how obvious and easy the movie acts by pushing the same agenda. 

To this, I say, that is the very point.

There is a concept in the writing world—not just specific to film—that writers have an inherent job when trying to capture the real world. They are responsible for making important, poignant statements about society, even when their subject does not pertain to such issues. It’s burdensome. As a writer, I can say it is not possible to take on every worldly issue society faces, but it should not even be desirable. Movies and books are finite and, with a limited scope, writers can only focus on a few things. Adam McKay reserves the right to tailor his focus. Don’t Look Up is already two hours and twenty-five minutes long. Do we really need more commentary on how American society is lacking? Furthermore, the movie is supposed to be obvious. Every viewer should walk away understanding the parallels to current American life because McKay wasn’t trying to be tricky. He wanted it to be crystal clear.

Allen also claims the movie is unsurprising and fails at its execution. I believe McKay intended for the film to be unsurprising. It is a common conception in the writing field that endings should be “inevitable but still surprising” (a philosophy that dates back to Aristotle). Such an idea may sound contradictory, but inevitable endings almost always elicit a sense of surprise. Throughout the entire film, Professor Mindy and Kate spend every minute of their lives trying to get the American government and its people to recognize the gravity of the world’s impending doom. Every effort is to stop the comet from hitting Earth. Even near the film’s end, when Russia, India, and China fail their deflection mission, there is still hope the Bash extraction mission could succeed. But, it doesn’t, and Mindy, Kate, and their loved ones circle the dinner table, praying over their last meal, as the world detonates around them.

The ending is inevitable. Kate and Randall spend every moment saying “everyone is going to die!” and that is exactly what happens. Everyone dies, and the planet is destroyed. Despite knowing this information and seeing how the American government was acting, I still held onto hope until the very end. I hoped that, perhaps, someone or something could save them from destruction. Hope is a key element because I was continuously praying the people of the film could be better than they actually were. Maybe that is my own willful optimism, but such a feeling isn’t rare. As humans, we like to hope. We like to believe others are better than they always show us to be. We would like to believe that if our lives were on the line, someone would save us. 

There are dozens of other critiques I found, and I could spend weeks arguing against them. Some did hold weight: many jokes didn’t land and some characters felt too animated for the storyline. Additionally, the Riley Bina-DJ Cello (Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi, respectively) inclusion was a little trite. However, these characters do represent the TikTok era of pop culture, something that is essential to the dissemination of knowledge today. Even if it was cringey at times, it reflects contemporary influencers. Randall Mindy’s affair with Brie also detracts from the main plot, but Don’t Look Up is a Hollywood film. There are going to be unnecessary romantic narratives to entice the audience. 

Regardless of these misgivings, Don’t Look Up is an important piece of social commentary. I think people were so disappointed in the film because it represents what America is actually like and not what people believe it to be. Sure, not everyone is cruel, but the United States is no stranger to apathetic politicians, uncaring citizens, and a distrust in science. If anything, that is what we know best. But people don’t like when fingers are pointed at their flaws. Perhaps these critics saw a little too much of real life in the film—a little too much for the comfortable escape of a movie. Don’t Look Up should be watched as a lesson. It is just like the movie poster says: this film is based on truly possible events. Let’s make sure it doesn’t ever get to that place.

By Anjali Chanda

Vanderbilt student, writer, and dog lover.