Given today’s socio-political climate, it seems like we hear about the end of the world every other day, particularly during election season. Before the new millennium, however, the demise of society as we knew it was a very real concern, as it was believed that technology would cease to function once the date rolled over at midnight on December 31, 1999. Though civilization seems to have made it, what if it didn’t? What if computers gained sentience and sought to take over the world?
Such is the premise for Y2K, A24’s upcoming disaster comedy/horror film directed by Kyle Mooney, co-written by Mooney and Evan Winter, and produced by Jonah Hill of Superbad and The Wolf of Wall Street fame. The premise is as stated above, though add in a boy likes girl, boy wants to kiss girl, boy wants to take advantage of the whole end of the world thing to make that happen, and that’s about the point where the shit hits the fan. The trailer sees one computer using hairspray and a lighter to torch a partygoer who swears he only uses hair gel, while a Tamagotchi powers a machine to drill through another partier’s head. And in between those, at least in the trailer, is a flying VHS copy of Varsity Blues that is implied to have brought someone to their Jesus, though we don’t see this explicitly.
What makes this nu metal besides the year in which the film takes place is a) the use of Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” in the trailer, and b) the presence of one Fred Durst among the cast list. We don’t see him in the two and a half minute teaser, but given how ubiquitous Limp Bizkit was in 1999, whatever capacity we get our favorite Jacksonvillite (Jacksonvillean? Jacksonvillain?) will be memorable.
That’s more than can be said for the movie on the whole, which had its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest. Currently, the film sits at a 52 Metascore with 12 critic reviews and a 2.6 out of 10 on IMDb, the latter of which averages out 189 viewer reviews. This would suggest that the Nineties nostalgia and zaniness of its concept only take the film so far, though we won’t have to wait much longer to find out, as the movie is set to debut in theaters on December 6. Independent horror is very much alive and well, as evidenced by films such as Longlegs racking up big numbers at the box office, so perhaps Y2K has a chance after all.
Check out the trailer for Y2K below:
