By Robert Scucci
| Up to date
Because of all the doomspeak we hear all day, on daily basis on the information, it’s exhausting to gauge precisely how an precise extinction-level occasion can be communicated to the plenty by means of the 24/7 information cycle that has actually everyone on edge on a regular basis. If I needed to enterprise a guess, 2021’s Don’t Look Up, a Netflix Authentic, is about as correct because it will get as a result of most of the people is so overwhelmed by the onslaught of data they obtain at any given second that I don’t assume anyone would truly care about an alleged comet hurtling towards Earth as a result of it’s simply one other bleak story within the information cycle which will or might not be true.
Exploring this concept to ranges of absurdity with its pitch-black humorousness, Don’t Look Up gives a startling but hilarious glimpse at simply how society would react to an imminent, world-ending catastrophe when the powers that be haven’t any different selection than to confess they’ve been sitting on proof of a world-ending disaster as a result of they didn’t assume it was a giant deal on the time, and figured different fluff tales could be higher for rankings.
It Begins With A Comet
Don’t Look Up facilities on each Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Physician Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), who each work within the astronomy division at Michigan State College. When Kate, a doctoral candidate on the college, discovers a comet, she consults Randall, her professor, to verify its trajectory.
Virtually instantly, Randall discovers that the comet is heading towards Earth at an alarming fee, and can see its affect in about six months. Understanding they must act quick to get the information out, Randall, Mindy, and Dr. Teddy Ogelthorpe (Rob Morgan) of the Planetary Protection Coordination Workplace prepare a gathering with President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her son, Jason (Jonah Hill), her chief of employees.
In a surprising flip of occasions, President Orlean treats the difficulty as yet one more instance of a no one scientist searching for his quarter-hour of fame within the type of whipping the nation hysterics with Kate’s discovery.
Leaning into all the basic catastrophe film tropes, Don’t Look Up turns into an absolute circus of media manipulation, political doublespeak, and the downplaying of an precise upcoming extinction-level occasion that no one appears to care about.
It’s All About Rankings
Given an opportunity to speak their discovery to the plenty in Don’t Look Up, Kate and Randall make an look on The Day by day Rip, a light-hearted and extremely standard morning speak present, solely to seek out out that the hosts, Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett) need them to downplay the disaster as a result of doomspeak could be unhealthy for rankings. Pissed off by the truth that no one’s taking their discovery critically, Kate has a meltdown on air, making her the topic of merciless web memes, whereas Randall is well known for his attractiveness and tutorial appeal, making him a star.
Solely when information about President Orlean’s affair with Supreme Court docket nominee Sheriff Conlon (Erik Parillo) makes its rounds within the information cycle is the comet’s imminent affect with Earth taken critically as a result of she desperately wants a giant story to cowl up her scandal in Don’t Look Up.
Recruiting tech billionaire Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) to assist orchestrate an Armageddon-style nuclear assault on the comet, President Orlean resolves to rectify the scenario, however solely till Peter realizes that the comet might be mined for valuable sources.
In the meantime, the general public is split on whether or not the comet is an precise menace because of the dubiousness of the information stories involving the spectacle, illustrating the truth that regardless of how a lot you doom scroll by means of your information apps, you’re not essentially getting the total story.
Streaming Don’t Look Up On Netflix
Don’t Look Up is a kind of catastrophe flicks that’s so on-the-nose that you would be able to’t assist however snort at its ridiculousness. However simply beneath its darkish humorousness is a extra vital narrative to think about. We’re all being fed an onslaught of conflicting info by means of our units, and at such an alarming fee it’s not possible to fact-check every part and even take into account the truth that these tales aren’t being printed with our greatest pursuits in thoughts.
As hilarious as Don’t Look Up could also be, it’s additionally a daunting satire as a result of nothing about this film appears unrealistic. Okay, you could have to droop a wholesome quantity of disbelief by the point you attain its third act, however so far as media manipulation and public notion goes in relation to catastrophic, world-ending occasions, I don’t assume the occasions that happen on this movie are too far off from actuality, given the present state of issues.
Don’t Look Up is a Netflix Authentic, and will be streamed with an lively subscription.
