December 31, 1999. Those old enough to remember know what a strange time that was. It was a time filled with excitement, anxiety, and uncertainty around what was going to happen when the clock struck midnight and a new millennium would begin.
Director Kyle Mooney and writer Evan Winter take that momentous evening and absolutely run with it in the insane nostalgia-filled comedy Y2K.
Y2K was nothing like I was expecting. If this is a film you are interested in seeing, and you religiously watched Total Request Live on MTV and know every word to “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain, I would probably recommend you stop reading this review right now and see this movie the first opportunity you get.
Mooney, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, made his directorial debut with Brigsby Bear in 2017. The film was one of my favorites of the year as it combined awkward humour with incredible sincerity. Y2K is not that kind of movie.
Mooney and Winter, like myself, are kids born in the 1980s whose adolescence matched the emergence of technology. Instant Messaging, mix CDs, and the internet ruled the day, and whether you were a prep, a jock, a goth, or a skater, high school was a very confusing time.
The film follows two high schoolers, Jaeden Martell (It, Knives Out) and Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Deadpool), who are best buds. They decide to crash a New Year’s Eve party and when the clock strikes midnight on 2000, the movie takes a crazy turn.
At the turn of the century, a computer uprising begins as all technology begins to turn on humans by murdering them or trying to capture their brains. As the high schoolers begin to be attacked by tamagochis, electric drills and CD players the movie spirals into complete chaos.
The film turns from coming-of-age teen comedy to full-on campy horror. We follow the few survivors of the party including the high school crush Laura played by Rachel Zegler (West Side Story). They encounter a few helpers along the way, as well as my favorite surprise cameo I’ve seen in a movie in a long, long time.
The movie clearly targets anyone born in the ’80s and early ’90s. Anyone born after 2000 should prepare for a whole lot of jokes and references to fly right over your head.
The tone of the film Mooney and Winter create is a lot of fun, and I can imagine that it was a ball to make. While it definitely is not meant for everyone, the target audience is going to absolutely love it.
That being said, the film is far from perfect. It’s pure chaos, and the nostalgia-filled references seem to outweigh true character development and world-building. Brigsby Bear was a beautiful tribute to the wonders of film and what it can do for anyone. It is filled with so much heart and leaves the audience with so much joy. In this movie, all you leave with is chuckles and a few gross-out moments.
I am happy that Mooney got to pay homage to the things he loved as a child but I hope for his next film he goes back to trying to tell something meaningful and moving because we know he has that ability.
