Don’t Look Up takes place in the 21st century, in the very near future. The movie mostly takes place in Boston, New York City, and Washington DC. The movie is in a very similar universe to ours, with some slight differences, such as a female President and some minor technological advancements. The movie is written and directed by Adam McKay and released December 10th, 2021. The movie includes stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, as well as comedic relief from actors Jonah Hill and Timothee Chalamet.

Story Line

Don’t Look Up begins with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence playing Dr. Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, respectively. The two work at Michigan State University, specifically in astronomy. One night, while observing space through a telescope, they see a comet. While at first excited, the two quickly realize that the comet is headed directly towards Earth. They hurriedly get in contact with the United States government and Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe. They meet up with Dr. Oglethorpe, intending to inform the US President of the dangerous comet that will collide in exactly six months.

When they arrive, they are appalled to see how little the President cares about seeing them, even pushing off the meeting. After finally getting into the Oval Office and informing the President, the President simply doesn’t care. The President decides to “sit tight and assess,” despite the pleading scientists begging her to take action. The President eventually kicks the scientists out of the office and tells them to keep quiet about everything. 

The scientists decide to leak the information and even go on the news to warn the country of the impending threat. The scientists are shocked once again at the oblivious nature of the news anchors and the whole country. The entire country is split between calling them crazy and realizing what’s coming. The scientists continue to beg the President to do something about the comet. With the date of impact coming ever closer, the President puts together a team of NASA researchers to confirm the threat, despite the scientists having proof. The President eventually calls the scientists back in and informs them that they have in fact decided to take action. That being said, the President says that they will do it her way. She explains that they will launch a spaceship piloted by someone who will fly into the comet. In addition to this, they’ll launch many nukes at it. She also explains that the American people need to have a hero (the pilot). The President picks a military officer for the job and addresses the American people. She tells the whole world not to worry, and that the American people will persevere.

When the launch begins, the officer pilots the spaceship and lift-off begins. The President also launches the nukes behind him. One of the nukes malfunctions and the whole world is in shock, but the President says that they accounted for this. As the spaceship is about to leave the atmosphere, the President is called out of the room. It is revealed to us that the person who called the President out owns a phone company. Not only that, but it is also the biggest company in the world, and this the richest man in the world. 

When the President returns to the Situation Room, the spaceship begins “turning around.” Although this doesn’t really make sense, it is revealed that the spaceship returned to Earth. The entire world is in shock, and the scientists won’t stop questioning the moves of the President. A few days later, Dr. Randall Mindy is appointed a position in the government and invited to a meeting. In the meeting it is revealed that the rich man’s team has found a plethora of valuable materials that could be used in their phones. He plans to send a group of mining robots into space to deal with the comet. They will drill into it, explode the comet into many pieces, and it will fall safely into the ocean to be collected. The scientists are skeptical, but the President agrees as the man is the government’s biggest financial supporter. The whole world is beginning to collapse as people are either pro-mining it, or pro-destroying it. Some even believe the comet might be fake.

Soon enough the scientists see the comet with their own eyes in the sky and tell people to simply look up and see the danger. The President and their supporters start the “Don’t Look Up Campaign.” They tell people to save their freedom and to not be scared of the comet. With little time left, the day finally arrives and they send the robots into space. Immediately, two of the launches fail and explode. Everyone is nervous, but “they planned in case of this.” Everything goes smoothly until the drillers fail and explode. The comet is still in one piece and heading towards Earth. The entire world panics and people choose what to do with their last day on Earth. Kate Dibiasky, Dr. Randall Mindy, and Dr. Oglethorpe go to Dr. Randall Mindy’s house in Michigan. They all eat dinner as family and friends one last time before the comet hits. Everyone says what they are thankful for and what they cherish most. The world ends in oblivion, and we are shown a scene of a spaceship floating away from Earth. 

20 million years later the ship reaches a habitable planet and launches down the people. Everyone exits the spacecraft and walks onto the new area, examining their surroundings. The President and the rich man are both there. The movie ends with the President seeing a beautiful creature, going up to pet it, and being eaten.

Critic Reviews

Reviews from critic websites are subject to change, and these are current at time of writing (3/6/2026).

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes gave Don’t Look Up a critic rating of 56%. The “Critic Consensus” is that the movie “aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land.” However, the consensus also stated that the movie “hits its target of collective denial square on.” On the other hand, Rotten Tomatoes Audience Reviews rates the movie at 78%. Stating that, “Although it can be heavy-handed with its messaging, Don’t Look Up tackles important subjects with humor and heart.”

Metacritic

Metacritic gives Don’t Look Up a rating of 49%. A total of 52 critic reviews with 15 positive reviews, 29 mixed reviews, and 8 negative reviews. A positive review from The Independent states that “there’s something oddly satisfying about the way McKay’s film lets us laugh at our own doom.” A mixed review from The Atlantic states that, “The satire of Don’t Look Up is anguished and clear to the point of feeling bludgeoning.” Finally, a negative review from The Playlist describes the movie as “cheap, and crass, and by the conclusion, downright infuriating.”

IMDb 

IMDb (Internet Movie Database) gives Don’t Look Up a critic rating of 7.2 or 72%. This comes with around 574,000 reviews above 50%. One reviewer said that “someone made a meme movie about the US,” and another stated, “Political Satire at its best.” Others say that it “hits too close to home,” and “a really good movie yet painful to watch.”

Why was Don’t Look Up a flop?

Don’t Look Up was released on December 24, 2021. Considering the global pandemic that was still quite rampant, it is no surprise the movie underperformed. Why would people be leaving their homes during such a dangerous time to watch a movie, anyway? With around 75 million dollars in spending, and about $760,000 made worldwide, it is easy to say the movie was a massive failure. Although a bit of a stretch, it could also be considered that people were still mentally dealing with the state of the world as well. It isn’t too far-fetched to think that people don’t want to watch a movie about the end of the world with all of the sickness going around.

Conclusion

In my opinion, Don’t Look Up is an excellent take on a comedic satire. It sheds light to the issues of our world, and shows that denial and incompetence can lead to danger for all of us. The movie also displays the problems with world leaders, and how they can affect the people of their country if they do not have the correct morals and intentions. In today’s world, global threats are coming ever closer to us, even if they don’t currently appear to be a problem. This movie shows us that early action will always be the better decision than “sitting and assessing” a situation that is impending. I also think that the use of comedic actors and characters such as Jonah Hill and Timothee Chalamet is an excellent addition to the movie. It manages to teach us something that is extremely terrifying in a way that has the audience laughing at every corner. I believe that, if the movie had been made and released at a better time, then it could have been an enormous success. I would absolutely recommend that you watch Don’t Look Up for your next movie night, and who knows, maybe we can look back on this in 2 million years and think, “Maybe we should have destroyed that comet.”

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