Film Review: Don't Look Up

Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan
Runtime: 138 minutes 

Don’t Look Up is a funny, satirical take on the disaster movie, injecting strong political commentary on the current state of the world. It features a star-studded cast, from Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence to Cate Blanchett and Timothée Chalamet. 

The political commentary in this film must be commended. The undertones that permeate throughout the film are extremely clever and well thought out, never feeling the need to hide the parallels under its sleeve. This film replaces the extreme American patriotism that is common in many films and replaces it with a cynical outlook, more in touch with the modern era. Mckay cleverly weaves a message about climate change and the pandemic throughout the film, all while heavily criticising the infective political and media class who are more concerned with their own survival and ratings than the people they claim to represent. The real world parallels here are very worrying, and this film serves as a cautionary tale to act before it is too late.  

While the film is not hilarious at any specific point, it has a constant stream of laughs that keep tiding the audience over until the next one. The comedy is well thought out, and is not just played off for simple laughs with surface level gags. Adam McKay, who also wrote the screenplay, does a great job at giving each joke a meaning, and his writing skills show here. The majority of the laughs come from Jonah Hill’s stuck-up Jason Orleans, the Chief of Staff, who exemplifies the nepotism that runs throughout both politics and business. The influence of the Trump presidency can be seen quite clearly, with similarities to the likes of Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr – the crisis manager and the social media guard dog, respectively.

Mark Rylance, who plays Peter Isherwell, runs phone company BASH, which is a terrifying force representative of the elegance of Apple, the evil of Facebook and innovation of Tesla combined. Mark Rylance models his character off of Zuckerberg and Musk, making for a publicly charming but privately creepy character – though the high pitched nature of the accent is confusing and irritating – who believes himself to be humanity’s saviour. There is also a bit of Bezos in there, as BASH also has its own space arm, used only for the benefit of Isherwell himself.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays awkward Doctor Randall Mindy, a Leonard Hofstadter-type astrologist who is buried in his discovery and struggles with the media and political aspects of the discovery he and his student have made. DiCaprio, a well-known climate activist, is the perfect fit for the role, being believably beautiful for the world to latch onto.  

Jennifer Lawrence returns from her break from acting to remind the audience why they fell in love with her as an actress. The no-nonsense attitude of Lawrence shines through Kate Dibiasky, who doesn’t mince any words about humanity’s impending doom. Her character is somewhat like Greta Thunberg, disillusioned by the political class for not acting against a danger that is highly proven, and instead turns to direct action through protest.  

Overall, this film is a great takedown of today’s societal culture, with politicians refusing to act when it doesn’t benefit them, business corporations running the world and the media class who are more concerned with positive spin and ratings. DiCaprio and Lawrence each give excellent performances, but it is Jonah Hill’s that is the most memorable. 

Did you know? Jennifer Lawrence described the scene where she raps Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit by the Wu-Tang Clan “the worst day of my life” due to being in a huge, silent hangar, surrounded by a cast and crew that she had not yet become acquainted with.

Don’t Look up is now available on Netflix