The world is ending, and nobody cares. Sounds like an unbelievable story, right? Unfortunately, it is not, Don’t Look Up (released Dec 5 2021) is not a political movie about real-life events, but it directly parallels real life and almost makes a parody of it. Don’t Look Up, written and directed by Adam Mckay, indirectly pokes fun at major politicians as well as people with lots of money, power, and influence, and all their responses to genuine crises, specifically the Corona Virus outbreaks.

   The movie takes place in an alternate version of our world, where a comet that could wipe out the entire planet is making its way towards the Earth. Two scientists, Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) are the first to discover it. After managing a meeting with the President (Meryl Streep), Madam President isn’t very interested in what they have to say and is more focused on her own political scandal, so she can win re-election. After trying to tell the world about this deadly comet on national television, they are mocked and laughed at. They eventually start to get some people to believe them, and they have a solution to save the world, but a tech billion-aire (Mark Rylance) puts money first and pays off the President to let the comet hit, claiming it would be safe and give him resources to fund his products. **SPOILER ALERT** The comet was not safe, it wiped out the entire planet and killed almost everyone, the only people that escaped were the idiots in power.

   This movie was full of genius parallels to real life: The President hired her family as staff, focused on her own power before anything else, and created a following of conspiracy theorists who blindly follow her lead. She acted extremely like former President Donald Trump, and Meryll Streep did an incredible job referencing his mannerisms and following his ideals. Her son, Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill) did a great job in the “bratty rich kid” role and followed his mother like Donald Trump Jr. follows his father. Pete Isherwell, the previously mentioned tech billionaire, is a beautifully written character. He plays a combination of notables like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. He is everything you hate in a billionaire and Mark Rylance did an incredible job with the role. The President’s fan club was full of conspiracy theorists who didn’t believe the comet was real, just like the people who believe the Corona Virus was never real. Dr. Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, the original people who discovered the comet and spread the news, are just like logical people in all of us, with the common sense to see deeper and do their own research, similar to Dr. Fauci and the scientists of the CDC during the early stages of the pandemic. Among the more notable cameos was Ariana Grande, playing Riley Bina, a popular singer. She represented all the big famous people who spread the messages to wear a mask and get vaccinated.

   This movie also had its fair share of jokes, this was bound to happen, being led by McKay, writer and director of huge comedies such as Stepbrothers, Anchorman and Talladega Nights. It had some hilariously relevant moments, but it was also one of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen, in the best way possible. It made me want to scream at my screen saying, “Why don’t you listen to the people with the facts!?” and then I realized I was saying the same thing for the last two years. This movie genuinely made me feel something as I watched the world explode in the Strangelove-esque ending, knowing that the people in charge could really let this happen and the movie wasn’t overexaggerating much at all. I would recommend this movie to anyone who needs a wakeup call. If you are open to the real-life side of this, this movie can be a life-changing watch. If not, it’s still a fun end-of-the-world movie.