“Don’t Look Up” is a movie that, going into it, seems like your average end of the world movie. Crazy weather or a catastrophic event that causes extinction. But this movie is different. It doesn’t show people panicking. It doesn’t have people in fear and it’s surprisingly political in a good way. Portraying the fact that sometimes in serious cases, people are negligent. It gives us a great look at the scientific side of things, taking us through the mind and hysteria of the astrologers who find out about the comet. It also gives us a great POV of the people who brush it off like it’s nothing.

The two standout stars, as you would assume, are Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. DiCaprio plays an astrologer at Michigan State University named Dr. Randall Mindy and really captures you throughout the whole movie. Jennifer Lawrence plays a student under the guidance of Dr. Mindy, named Kate Dibiasky. When working on a project, she discovers a comet. At first, it’s pure joy between her, her classmates and Dr. Mindy. Everyone is ecstatic at the fact that they’ve found a comet and how clear the picture taken of it is. They quickly come to realize when calculating how fast it’s traveling and the point of impact, that it’s going to directly hit the earth in just over 6 months. It doesn’t seem all that bad until it is. The comet is roughly 9 kilometers wide, converting to a little bit more than 5.5 miles wide. As stated in the movie, “That is an extinction level event.” The ending is probably one of the best ways it could be done, giving us an extremely emotional and surreal ending to the movie and to human life itself. It isn’t something that is completely improbable.

As previously stated, the acting was excellent, making you feel as if you were going to be the one being hit by the comet; making you feel like you only had 6 months to live. DiCrapio gave a very convincing performance. At the start when we meet him, he’s a very shy and awkward person; not wanting to take credit and only giving details and the facts. Also showing us that he’s a great astronomer and a level headed scientist. As the movie progresses however, he starts to get more comfortable around the media and in public when people don’t listen to him. He gets stressed out trying to explain to people that this isn’t something to take lightly. He gives a very heartfelt performance on how he’s only trying to help but he can’t help unless people listen to him. Jennifer Lawrence plays a great college student who seems to be shut out by the world because she’s too young. People think she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and won’t take her seriously. She steals the show in the first half, giving a college student in distress because know one hears her. Overall, the movie has a great tone to it, giving us different perspectives and thoughts. The cinematography and screenplay are beautiful and it’s a great movie to start off 2022.