Y2K (2024) A24/Comedy RT: 93 minutes Rated R (bloody violence, strong sexual content/nudity, pervasive language, teen drug and alcohol use) Director: Kyle Mooney Screenplay: Kyle Mooney and Evan Winter Music: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans Cinematography: Bill Pope Release date: December 6, 2024 (US) Cast: Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, The Kid Laroi, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, Eduardo Franco, Lauren Balone, Fred Durst, Kyle Mooney, Miles Robbins, Alicia Silverstone, Tim Heidecker, Kevin Mangold.
Rating: ***
It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Y2K fever had everybody in a panic. So many people were convinced that the world was going to end when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999. They thought the switch to a new millennium would cause all computers to crash. I never thought I’d see the day when somebody would look back on this nostalgically.
For his directorial debut, former SNL cast member Kyle Mooney gives us Y2K, a teen comedy set amidst a disaster movie scenario involving a cyber-uprising. This one has cult film written all over it. I don’t see it having a lot of mass appeal. You’ve heard of marching to a different drummer? This one has its own orchestra.
The story centers on two high school dorks, best buds Eli (Martell, It) and Danny (Dennison, Deadpool 2). Eli, the more straight-laced of the pair, has a crush on popular girl Laura (Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). Not only is she incredibly hot, she also has mad computer skills. The guys decide to crash a New Year’s Eve party so Eli can hook up with Laura who’s just broken up with her boyfriend. He wants nothing more than to kiss her at midnight. Danny just wants to party like it’s 1999. Come on, you know I had to throw that in there somehow.
Midnight comes and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Basically, the computers take over. All electronic devices come to life and meld together into robots that kill every human in sight. Many a guest meets his or her bloody demise at the hands of the mechanical monsters. A few survivors make their way to the woods where they try to stay alive while they try to figure out a way to defeat the machines before they enslave them all.
The small band of survivors includes non-binary skater girl Ash (Watson, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Slim Shady wannabe CJ (Zolghadri, Eighth Grade) and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst (as himself). Aussie rapper The Kid Laroi plays a jock d-bag everybody calls “Soccer Chris”. Mooney appears as Garrett, a dreadlock-wearing video store clerk/stoner with a thing for devil sticks. Plus, in a surreal twist, former teen vixen Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) shows up in a few scenes as Eli’s cool mom.
Mooney is a singular talent. A longtime member of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor (alongside fellow SNL alum Beck Bennett), he also co-wrote the 2017 oddball comedy Brigsby Bear. I stand by the rave review I gave it back then. He made clear his affection for silly 80s children’s TV shows. In Y2K, he shows his love for late 90s pop culture with references to Tamagotchis, dial-up Internet and Billy Blanks Tae Bo videos. This is all in addition to vintage soundtrack cuts like “Tubthumping” (Chumbawamba), “Thong Song” (Sisqo), “Back at One” (Brian McKnight) and “Closing Time” (Semisonic). I was well out of my teen years in 1999 (I was in my early 30s), so I can’t say Y2K brings back any fond memories of carefree times. However, I remember the time well enough to know Mooney gets it exactly right. I don’t think there’s anybody over 30 who doesn’t remember the AOL login and modem sound. I sure do and I didn’t even own a computer back then. Y2K didn’t make me feel nostalgic for ’99, but it did make me chuckle out of recognition a few times.
The cast appears to be having a good time, especially Dennison whose performance is the equivalent of dancing like no one’s watching. As a matter of fact, he does dance a couple of times and it’s fun to watch. He’s the perfect antithesis to Martell’s more reserved character, a mild-mannered sort who convincingly takes the lead when it’s time to save the world from machines. Zegler is a delight as a bad ass hacker girl. Watson does great work as Ash, a tapehead who’s never without a camera. Eduardo Franco (Stranger Things) has some funny scenes as a big mouth bonehead who bullies the two heroes.
Mooney’s involvement with Y2K gave me a glimmer of hope as I entered the theater. I had a feeling it might be good despite the studio’s decision to release it between the Thanksgiving releases and the first wave of big Christmas movies. I don’t think it’ll do big business, but it is good. Like I said earlier, it’s a future cult film. Mooney struggles a little bit with tone; the shift from teen party comedy to disaster horror movie is somewhat abrupt yet not awkward.
To its credit, Y2K never feels like a short film stretched out to feature length. It’s creative if not wholly original. It’s an interesting film that won’t appeal to everybody and will likely be out of theaters by Christmas Day. So if you have a taste for the bizarre and unusual, you better hurry before this crazy train pulls out of the station.
