The Adults in Charge - Don't Look Up (2021)
Doom from the stars in this timely climate change allegory.
Climate change communication is a tricky thing. No matter how obvious the effects, even convincing a significant portion of the United States that it’s real is somehow still a challenge. Even those “in agreement” are hardly unified, with plenty of bickering over the ideal approach. Is “hopium” or “doomism” the messaging roadbloack stopping us from making the changes needed to avert potentially civilization ending global catastrophe?
It’s hard to say, as the clock runs out and existing efforts prove increasingly inadequate.
That sense of desperation permeates the Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up (2021), directed by Adam McKay of The Big Short (2015) and Anchorman (2004) fame. In this environmental fable, Astronomers Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discover a massive comet hurtling towards earth. In six months time, it will destroy the entire planet.
With all the necessary tools available to stop this event, all that’s needed is for those in power to make the right choices.
You can probably guess how this one ends.
Don’t Look Up’s metaphor is painfully obvious and so is the humor. But that’s more than understandable. For over two hours, the protagonists scramble for the message, action, or stunt that will finally get people to act. Heartfelt pleas and passionate speeches are swallowed up by meme culture, the media machine, and government repression. The end of life itself is perceived as a political matter that will spoil civil conversations.
The real world parallels might be clear but Don’t Look Up argues it has to be, presenting the people of the US as apparently unwilling to acknowledge an existential threat, both in and out of story.
Many of the complexities of catastrophic climate change aren’t covered, particularly how it disproportionately affects developing countries. In fact the film is almost exclusively set within the borders of the USA. But Don’t Look Up is quick to remind you nothing has worked so far. It takes a dim view of its audience, saying only the most unnuanced, blunt message has any hope of landing to a broad audience. I only wish I could disagree with them.
The film still avoids misanthropy and fatalism, placing the blame where it belongs. Throughout Don’t Look Up, our leaders, elected and self appointed, always have the necessary solutions within arms reach. Greed just wins out. President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) is a nightmarish fusion of the last twenty years of self-serving, two faced figureheads holding public office. Even more unnerving and infuriating is tech billionaire Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), who sees a catastrophic, civilization ending event as a chance to make a profit.
That’s not to say that the film is entirely a morality play. Some jokes don’t land but most stick, with a few particularly effective ones. Repetition and callbacks are Don’t Look Up’s preferred tricks. Though at times grating, it fits the overarching message of deciphering the social puzzle of driving action. The more effective humor plays on the real life absurdity of ignoring deep rooted, fatal crises and the sheer pettiness of those who have it all.
It’s not a simple good vs evil story, as no matter how outright villainous the opposition, even our heroes are still human. A particularly sobering detail is the increasingly exasperated Mindy succumbing to the theatrics preventing the world from doing what it needs to, buying into the lies he’s supposed to be fighting against.
The actors keep the film part of things together, with Jennifer Lawrence giving a particularly memorable performance. Her unwillingness to sanitize the truth sees her dismissed as hysterical meme-fodder, which only feeds into her frustration with the state of things.
Celebrity cameos abound, with a particularly meta concert sequence from Ariana Grande.
The most effective one is Timothée Chalamet’s small role as an evangelical skater bro and unlikely comforting presence. It’s a part of the film’s larger attempts to keep a human element intact amid self-destructive ignorance. Don’t Look Up is just as much about coping with the end of life as we know it and realizing it was entirely avoidable.
That gives it an interesting parallel with Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), though that movie focused entirely on the personal lives of its doomed characters and fielded a lighter form of satire about society, lacking commentary on environmental action and social responsibility.
The camerawork and editing can get disorienting with the emphasis on extreme close ups, quick cuts, and cutaways. Some of McKay’s previous trademarks are there, emphasizing the ever dwindling window to act. As uncomfortable and intrusive as that can be, it really should be. The special effects for the comet and associated solutions are convincing if at times almost strangely dream like. But that fits with this exaggerated climate parable.
Even then, I don’t know if “exaggerated” is appropriate. The film isn’t all that far from reality. In some ways I suspect it’s a little too charitable to the response to climate change. The ending, with even those responsible getting their just desserts, feels more like wish fulfillment to keep things from getting too bleak.
As clumsy as Don’t Look Up can feel in places, it’s a last minute plea to do the right thing and one that perfectly captures the morass of emotions surrounding the climate action.
It’s not the perfect climate film but we’re well past waiting around for “perfect” to show up.
Great review! It’s sad to see how divided humans are in this and many other areas.
Couldn't agree more!