History YMMV / DontLookUp

* MisaimedFandom: Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) [[https://twitter.com/kyrstensinema/status/1475226162964013059 praised the movie]] and showed interest in it, despite the fact that the film was made from a leftist perspective and intended to criticize corporate-aligned politicians such as herself regardless of party affiliation. Some even [[https://twitter.com/papermarkis/status/1476398857365995535 directly compared her to President Orlean herself]] in the replies.

* MisaimedFandom: Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) [[https://twitter.com/kyrstensinema/status/1475226162964013059 praised the movie]] and showed interest in it, despite the fact that the film was made from a leftist perspective made to criticize corporate-aligned politicians such as herself regardless of party affiliation. Some even [[https://twitter.com/papermarkis/status/1476398857365995535 directly compared her to President Orlean herself]] in the replies.

** A tunguska-level event (one city destruction only) occurs only once every century. An extinction-level event occurs on the order of a million years - well beyond the likely lifespan of our civilization. The odds of our civilization being threatened by a meteorite strike are effectively zero, and we already have asteroid detection protocols in place which have searched our environment for threats and come up empty. Climate change, on the other hand, is a certainty, and we have no realistic plans for coming to grips with it. Space disaster works should all be treated as space whale aesops for more likely disasters like climate change, nuclear war or pandemic, since the odds of a space disaster happening are effectively zero.

** [[https://youtu.be/wFeZ2EOc8KY "Just Look Up"]] by Music/ArianaGrande and Music/KidCudi. The hilarious lyrics sung as a sweeping ballad have already made it garner Oscar buzz for Best Song.

* PoorMansSubstitute: Isherwell's mannerisms and style seem to be written for frequent Creator/AdamMcKay collaborator Steve Carell rather than Mark Ryland.

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** A tunguska-level event (one city destruction only) occurs only once every century. An extinction-level event occurs on the order of a million years - well beyond the likely lifespan of our civilization. The odds of our civilization being threatened by a meteorite strike are effectively zero, and we already have asteroid detection protocols in place which have searched our environment for threats and come up empty. Climate change, on the other hand, is a certainty, and we have no realistic plans for coming to grips with it. Space disaster works should all be treated as space whale aesops for more likely disasters like climate change, nuclear war or pandemic, since the odds of a space disaster happening are effectively zero

** a tunguska-level event (one city destruction only) occurs only once every century. An extinction-level event occurs on the order of a million years - well beyond the likely lifespan of our civilization. The odds of our civilization being threatened by a meteorite strike are effectively zero, and we already have asteroid detection protocols in place which have searched our environment for threats and come up empty. Climate change, on the other hand, is a certainty, and we have no realistic plans for coming to grips with it. Space disaster works should all be treated as space whale aesops for more likely disasters like climate change, nuclear war or pandemic, since the odds of a space disaster happening are effectively zero

%%%% Do not add Broken Base, Base Breaking Character, The Scrappy, or Overshadowed by Controversy examples until six months after the film is released.

* LoveToHate: Sir Peter Isherwell endangers the entire planet with his greedy plan, but his utterly bizarre nature makes him one of the film's funniest and easily it's creepiest character, with Creator/MarkRylance's sheer commitment to the baffling strange role getting a good deal of praise.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* IdiotPlot: Intentionally. The plot basically requires all but a handful of people to be greedy, ignorant morons just so [[spoiler:the comet can hit Earth and kill everyone]].

** A few viewers have noted that Kate feel sidelined in favor of Randall, who has much more of an arc and an impact on the plot while she remains secondary to him and non-changing. Some have even said it might've made more sense if the movie had just one lead because of this.

* TheWoobie: Kate Dibiasky - after discovering the comet, she finds herself frustrated by the apathy of her fellow people. She is ruthlessly mocked and memed after her breakdown on live TV, with her own boyfriend jumping on the bandwagon and breaking up with her. She is later forced to go off the grid and drop out of college. By the start of the third act, she has basically given up on humanity, ultimately coming to the conclusion that HumansAreMorons [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters or The Real Monsters]] and that [[ItIsBeyondSaving the world is beyond saving]].

* MisaimedFandom: Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona [[https://twitter.com/kyrstensinema/status/1475226162964013059 praised the movie]] and showed interest in it, despite the fact that the film was made from a leftist perspective made to criticize corporate-aligned politicians such as herself regardless of party affiliation. Some even [[https://twitter.com/papermarkis/status/1476398857365995535 directly compared her to President Orlean herself]] in the replies.

* HarsherInHindsight: an odd example of this happening during late production; the climate change metaphor turned out to double as an eerily spot-on metaphor for the struggle to get people to make even the most basic efforts to combat the Covid 19 pandemic, and the absurd vilification of the experts desperately trying to save people from their own stupidity.

* SpiritualAdaptation: Some people jokingly note that this movie is "the Netflix adaptation of ''Manga/{{Remina}}''". Exclusion of CosmicHorrorStory aspect of Creator/JunjiIto's manga aside, ''Don't Look Up'' shares some similar plot points: an incoming planet-killer named after the main heroine, [[HumansAreMorons a human populace behaving irrationally after learning about it]], pointed satire of celebrity culture, and [[spoiler:the rich elites successfully escape the destruction of Earth [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty only to meet a more painful demise on another planet]]]].
* SpiritualSuccessor: Several critics have noted that the film is very much in the vein of ''Film/DrStrangelove'', being a BlackComedy about a disaster threatening to end the world that would have been relatively easily to put a stop to, but manages to spin utterly out of control due to human incompetence and short-sightedness, and a big helping of moments of supreme narcissism and even outright insanity on behalf of the cast. [[spoiler:The two films even have a pretty similar ending, as the respective disasters end up succeeding in destroying the world.]] Even Bon Iver's ending song "Second Nature" has the line "We will see you next time", which is like Vera Lynn's song for ''Dr. Strangelove'', "We'll Meet Again".

* TheWoobie: Kate Dibiasky - after discovering the comet, she finds herself frustrated by the apathy of her fellow people. She is ruthlessly mocked and memed after her breakdown on live TV, with her own boyfriend jumping on the bandwagon and breaking up with her. She is later forced to go off the grid and drop out of college. By the start of the third act, she has basically given up on humanity.

* PoorMansSubstitute: Isherwell's mannerisms and style seem to be written for frequent McKay collaborator Steve Carell rather than Mark Ryland.

* WhatAnIdiot: Three scientists try to warn the President of the United States about a CometOfDoom. What does the President do? Treat them with apathy. It only gets worse when Isherwell ignores all peer reviews in favor of his own plan.

* WhatAnIdiot: Three scientists try to warn the President of the United States about a CometOfDoom. What does the President do? Treat them with apathy. It only gets worse when Isherwell ignores all peer revies in favor of his own plan.

** Nicholas Britell's score is generally great, but every variation of its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZHk3gWsBu4 main theme]] is legitimately awesome, with the jazzy and energetic nature of the the main version clashing with the doom-laden tone of the four note descending scale being unsettling yet catchy at the same time. Likewise, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE854zHWEHo&list=PLaK2kuexAkFP6SaXWs3CItbXC47xnExTf&index=26 Memento Mori]]", the cue that plays over the final scene, is ''beautifully'' depressing and moving, and manages to hold the same amount of emotion on its own as it does in the film, even down to its [[NoEnding abrupt ending]].

* EndingAversion: Several critics thought this about the movie's ending [[spoiler:where everyone on Earth dies due to human greed]] made it completely pointless to watch, resulting in its mixed reviews.

** Kate's parents crossed it when they disowned her leaving her homeless and all by herself for her anti-comet stance as they believe in Isherwell's plan to mine the comet.

* CriticalDissonance: Critics were mixed, seeing the film as well-made and well-intentioned, but also heavy-handed and mean-spirited, garnering the film a 56% on Website/RottenTomatoes. It still managed to debut at #1 on Netflix, and the audience score on the same site was a more respectable 77%. One group that unanimously adored it were climate scientists, who felt that some of the criticisms of the movie revealed more about the people making them than about the film itself. It's to the point that [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2021/12/28/why-sneering-critics-dislike-netflixs-dont-look-up-but-climate-scientists-love-it/?sh=394d26ef2ee8 "critics vs. scientists"]] became a common narrative after it debuted, ironically mirroring the in-universe frustration that the main characters come to have with the media themselves. One science contributor for ''The Guardian'' pointed out that many of the criticisms of the movie sound ''like'' dialogue from the movie. On the other hand, many of the movie's detractors dismissed it as being obnoxiously self-important and with an unwarranted confidence in the effectiveness of its message, and expressed frustration over their view of the cast as being wealthy, privileged Hollywood fixtures lecturing the masses on issues they rarely assist with themselves. The divide deepened after the film received a Best Picture nomination at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, with many critics decrying the nomination and Creator/JimmyKimmel accusing those who voted for it of elitism on [[Series/JimmyKimmelLive his show]], claiming they should have voted for ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' instead; the dramatic reactions drew notable blowback from supporters of the film.

* Kate's parents crossed it when they disowned her leaving her homeless and all by herself for her anti-comet stance as they believe in Isherwell's plan to mine the comet.