“Don’t Look Up, Cosmic Denial”, a vitriolic apocalyptic comedy worn by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence

A 9 km wide comet is heading straight for Earth. It will collide with our planet in six months and fourteen days. It will undoubtedly be the end of the world and of humanity.

After having rechecked their calculations ten times, two obscure astronomers, Professor Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his young doctoral student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) will try to alert the highest authorities and public opinion to this imminent apocalypse by hoping that everything will be done to divert the comet from its path. In vain. They will come up against denial, the division of society, selfishness, stupidity and general narcissism.

Director Adam McKay signs both screenplay and directing for Don’t Look Up, dcosmic eni, squeaky comedy to watch since December 24th on Netflix. A five-star cast film in which Meryl Streep gleefully plays a President of the United States as incompetent as she is greedy for power (especially doing nothing that does not serve her interests), Cate Blanchett a narcissistic talk show host, Ariana Grande an equally egomaniac pop star, Jonah Hill the odious son and chief of staff of the American president and Timothée Chalamet a young punk.

The analogy to the urgency of the climate crisis is a deliberate one, and the filming of the film, during the pandemic, seems to have made it even more relevant.

“Right now, we’re having such a hard time focusing on the truth, and with the Covid crisis, a new scientific controversy has opened up.Leonardo DiCaprio said at an online press conference in mid-December.It is so sad and frustrating to see those who have dedicated their lives to knowing the truth to be put aside because people don’t like this truth.“, added Jennifer Lawrence.

Swarming with nods to reality, this film is above all a fierce comedy, which demystifies the madness of our time in broad strokes, between the tyranny of social networks, the race for media audiences, the hysterization of debates and the denial of the climatic situation.

Sending a strong message but in a fun way was the intention of writer and director Adam McKay, 53, who in the past made a notable film about the financial crisis (The Big Short: the heist of the century, 2015) and another on former US Vice President Dick Cheney (Vice, 2018).

“If you can laugh [du changement climatique], that means you put some distance, and that’s important. You can be aware of the urgency and be sad, while still maintaining a certain sense of humor“, he declared. The spectator indeed oscillates between laughter and nausea in front of this vitriolic portrait, in front of this grotesque barely distorting mirror which concerns us all. And which very much pleased scientists.

American astronomer Amy Mainzer, who inspired the character played by Jennifer Lawrence, ruled the film “very cathartic“.”We attended a screening with other scientists in Los Angeles and they were applauding. It was really something to see “, she stressed.

A project that could not but hit the mark with Leonardo DiCaprio, committed for years to the climate. “I’ve been waiting for a film for decades on the subject, a theme on which everyone is looking for what they can bring to their stone. Adam has really found the way to do it“the actor said.