Don't Look Up movie poster
Poster © Netflix. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
GenreComedy, Drama & Sci-Fi
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 18 mins
ReleasedDecember 10, 2021
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorAdam McKay
StarringLeonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan

Don't Look Up (2021)

movie.guru URL: https://movie.guru/dont-look-up-movie-review
Don't Look Up's Details
GenreComedy, Drama & Sci-Fi
RatedR
Released12/05/2021 (New York City); 12/10/2021 (United States); 12/24/2021 (Netflix)
StreamingSee Where to Watch on this page.
Running Time2 hr 18 mins
Budget$75M (reported)
Box OfficeUpdated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Don't Look Up's Interests
GeneralComets, cable news, press conferences, viral clips, a sky nobody looks at.
MusicNicholas Britell, plus Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi with "Just Look Up."
MoviesDr. Strangelove (1964). Same end of the world, fewer phones.
TelevisionAny morning show. Weather, celebrity gossip, and maybe the apocalypse.
HeroesKate Dibiasky. Said it out loud on live TV.
Don't Look Up's Crew
DirectorAdam McKay
WritersAdam McKay, Adam McKay (story), David Sirota (story)
ProducersAdam McKay, Kevin Messick
CinematographyLinus Sandgren
MusicNicholas Britell
Edited ByHank Corwin
ProductionHyperobject Industries, Bluegrass Films
Distributed ByNetflix
Don't Look Up's Trailer
Official Trailer • Netflix
How Don't Look Up Performed
movie guru's TLDR

Being told you’re the problem for 138 minutes is a lot, even when the people doing the telling are movie stars. Don’t Look Up has a single joke, everyone in charge is too vain to notice the end of the world, and it plays that joke on loop until the satire turns into a lecture. Some of those stars are great. Leonardo DiCaprio’s nervous professor melting down on live TV is the best scene, Jennifer Lawrence does exasperated better than anyone alive, and Mark Rylance’s tech billionaire is so soft-spoken and creepy that he steals the whole thing. Jonah Hill is a menace as the President’s son, in a good way. But the movie keeps winking at you so hard it forgets to be funny. A 5.8 because the cast is having a blast and the message is louder than the jokes. $126 says you pause it halfway to check the news and instantly regret it.

What works: Leonardo DiCaprio’s TV meltdown, Mark Rylance’s eerie tech billionaire, and a cast clearly having a blast.

What doesn’t: It repeats one joke for 138 minutes and keeps telling the audience it’s dumb instead of trusting it to laugh.

Who it’s for: People who like loud political satire and don’t mind being lectured a little.

Spoilers

The plan to break up the comet for its valuable minerals fails, and the comet hits Earth. Randall shares a last dinner with family and friends, while the rich escape on a spaceship and land on a new planet with a hungry surprise waiting.

Guru’s Take
5.8/10
Average
Don't Look Up's Blurbs
About me:

Astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) spots a brand new comet, and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), runs the numbers: it is headed straight for Earth and big enough to end basically everything. They have about six months. They take the news to the White House, where President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her son and chief of staff Jason (Jonah Hill) mostly care about the midterms. So they try morning TV, where hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) keep it light. Adam McKay directs. One hundred thirty-eight minutes, one very big rock.

Who I'd like to meet:

Anyone who checks the sky before checking their phone.

Don't Look Up's Friend Space
Don't Look Up's Top 8
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprioDr. Randall Mindy
Jennifer LawrenceJennifer LawrenceKate Dibiasky
Rob MorganRob MorganDr. Teddy Oglethorpe
Jonah HillJonah HillJason Orlean
Mark RylanceMark RylancePeter Isherwell
Tyler PerryTyler PerryJack Bremmer
Adam McKayAdam McKayDirector
View All of Don't Look Up's Friends
Don't Look Up's Cast (in credits order)
Leonardo DiCaprioDr. Randall Mindy
Jennifer LawrenceKate Dibiasky
Meryl StreepJanie Orlean
Cate BlanchettBrie Evantee
Rob MorganDr. Teddy Oglethorpe
Jonah HillJason Orlean
Mark RylancePeter Isherwell
Tyler PerryJack Bremmer
Timothée ChalametYule
Ron PerlmanColonel Benedict Drask
Ariana GrandeRiley Bina
Kid Cudi (creditedhis real name Scott Mescudi) as DJ Chello
Himesh PatelPhillip Kaj
Melanie LynskeyJune Mindy
Michael ChiklisDan Pawketty
Tomer SisleyAdul Grelio
Paul GuilfoyleUS Air Force Lieutenant General Stuart Themes
Robert JoyCongressman Tenant
Full cast and crew on IMDb.
Don't Look Up's Edit History
Every change to this page, newest first. Movie data updates are logged like any other edit.
  • (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +320 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $792K; Profit / loss (est.) -$112.1M; Rotten Tomatoes 56%; box office chart updated; RT 56% (305 reviews); Metacritic 49 / 100; IMDb users 7.1 / 10 (683,602 votes); movie.guru score 6.0.
  • (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.