The movie ‘Don’t Look Up’ a scary satirization of our fractured responses to Climate Change, COVID & more

Don’t Look Up movie was released on Friday, 24 December. The star-studded movie features Leonardo DiCaprio, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande, and Jennifer Lawrence and is distributed by Netflix.

The $75 million budget film is a comedy about Earth being hit by a meteor, and the futile attempts of scientists to get taken seriously in a world where everything is politicized, conspiracy theories flourish, and cynicism and ideocracy are the order of the day.

However, some netizens and news outlets have simplified the complex piece of legendary filmmaking into a climate change campaign. While it might be mired with good intentions, reviewing Don’t Look Up as a climate change movie robs the film of dozens of other relevant themes it presents. It is an allegorical satire showing scenarios of how the news media, politics, and business have approached science and social issues.

Don’t Look Up is more than just a climate change movie. The film captures the mood of the age. Set in a divided and ignorant world, where every player rushes to exploit situations- extinction-level events included, to serve personal interests and profit.

While the message of the movie serves the climate change agenda well, the movie is more than a climate action campaign. Themes like family, infidelity, mental health, religion, classism, capitalism, culture, STEM, women empowerment, commercial space travel, business, AI, international politics, philanthropy, tech, cryptocurrency, and investment. The stunning graphics displayed in the $75 million budget motion picture also gives the audience a peep of the actual technology that may never see in their lives but is actually being developed or already in existence.

Moreso, Don’t Look Up compiles the developments in the space race and human spaceflight activities. Rich visuals are educating a worldwide audience on space, astronomy, and anti-satellite missile technology. So please don’t rob the movie of its depth but celebrate it as an evolution in Hollywood storytelling.