Does a film need to be sociopolitically relevant for it to be good? it’s always a tricky balancing act, but in this case it sure damn works.
Anxiety and humor are two parallel threads that run throughout “Don’t Look Up”, complimenting and anti-doting each other like twin flames. The film combines the existential dread of a Black Mirror episode and the cutting, unforgiving satire of any headline from ‘The Onion’, but never in ways that feel too self-indulgent.
The stellar cast is pitch-perfect, not a line out of time, not a joke too far-fetched from the world we’re living now. Just when I think they must be all out of witty one-liners, they spring yet another one, just as razor-sharp as the last. This is where the film is at its peak, taking sharp swipes at the state of our broken world. It only very slightly fumbles in its final act — when the stakes are highest is when the timing isn’t as cut-throat. Nevertheless, the existential dread those final scenes bring is very real. Cautionary tales don’t get any sharper than this. But I’ve also realized one thing: the only thing rarer than a comet hurtling towards earth? Hope.
“Don’t Look Up” is wildly funny. It’s absolutely terrifying. Aren’t those the same thing sometimes?
