All the star power in the world can’t ward off a “planet-killing” catastrophe in the upcoming disaster comedy Don’t Look Up. Not even noted eco-activist Leo DiCaprio! Not even POTUS Meryl Streep! Or Jennifer Lawrence rocking some Lisbeth Salander-esque bangs!
From director Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up looks to be tackling political apathy from a bitingly satirical perspective, kinda like Dr. Strangelove for the current moment of governmental/mainstream media malaise. It’s crashing into select Aussie cinemas from December 9, and will then arrive on Netflix for subscribers on December 24.
Don’t Look Up looks like a return to McKay’s broad, goofy comedy in Anchorman and The Other Guys, whereas recent successes Vice and The Big Short followed true American history more closely. There’s still plenty of painfully real caricatures, though: Streep and Cate Blanchett in full Republican drag, Jonah Hill as a useless Chief of Staff/the President’s nepotisic son, and Ron Perlman as a disgruntled guy firing a pistol directly into the sky to protest a comet’s collision with earth.
The only people who seem to actually care about the impending devastation are DiCaprio and Lawrence, a pair of low-ranking astronomers going to desperate lengths to raise awareness. In the trailer below, they implore Ariana Grande to join the cause: the pop star helpfully points out, “I have a tattoo of a shooting star on my back!” Leo is only mildly impressed.
Hopefully we’ve all had juuust enough distance from our real globally devastating, governmentally-neglected catastrophe to enjoy this hilarious fake one. As the poster for Don’t Look Up claims, it’s a satire “based on truly possible events”….yikes.
