Adam McKay is continuing his streak of prestige films with his latest big-budget political satire Don't Look Up. With one of the most impressive list of stars to ever grace the screen with names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Rob Morgan, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Mark Rylance and Kid Cudi, the film has already garnered and will continue to garner plenty of attention with audiences everywhere. The film focuses on two low-level astronomers from Michigan State University, tenured professor Randall Mindy and grad-student Kate Dibiasky, who discover that a comet the size of Mount Everest is set to hit Earth in six months time and will eliminate all life on the planet. The two travel the country to warn the world of its impending doom, but unfortunately, nobody takes them seriously.
McKay is no stranger to the world of satire. Even his Will Ferrell comedies have skewered political issues and made jabs at important public figures and it's a method he has found great success with. Don't Look Up feels like an amalgamation of McKay's earlier work and his more prestigious fare, a film that has taken clear inspiration from other political satires that have come before. So if you were a fan or are interested in giving Don't Look Up a shot, here are 7 films that you may also enjoy.
Vice
Much like Don't Look Up has earned polarizing reviews along with awards attention, McKay's last film Vice followed a similar path. Vice is a scathing and darkly comical biopic on former Vice President Dick Cheney (played in the film by Christian Bale) who during the Bush administration wielded a great deal of power, getting the US involved in unsavory conflicts overseas in the name of 'ra-ra Americanism.' The film doesn't follow the traditional biopic formula with McKay channeling the style he brought to The Big Short with him to create an oddly entertaining but equally alarming take on the maligned Cheney.
Similar to his most recent film, McKay is not afraid to be vocal about his beliefs on the issues in the film, his storytelling methods prove to be loud and aggressive which will either win over the audience or alienate them. With a terrific ensemble that also includes names like Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Tyler Perry and Jesse Plemons, the film's strongest area lies with Bale's transformative performance as Cheney in what is easily some of the best work in his entire career.
Network
Along with addressing political topics, Don't Look Up also tackles the media in a way that is very reminiscent of Sidney Lumet's Oscar-Winning satire Network. The ensemble film kicks off when newscaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch) learns that he's about to be fired in two weeks' time leading him to go on air and proclaim that he will kill himself live on television in two weeks. This leads to a large spike in the broadcast network's ratings as the executives start to take advantage of Howard's mental health and make him into a media sensation putting the network back on top. Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Ned Beatty, Robert Duvall, and Beatrice Straight also star in the acclaimed film.
Much like Don't Look Up, Network is gloriously cynical about the issues it presents, showcasing that the higher powers in the corporate world truly only care about making money and getting attention rather than human lives. Balancing tough issues with a sense of snark, it's one of Lumet's finest achievements in his already illustrious filmography. For his iconic performance, Finch became the first actor in Academy history to win an acting award posthumously and deservingly so. Upon watching DiCaprio's epic rant scene in Don't Look Up, it's clear the team was inspired by Finch's Howard Beale.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Don't Look Up analyzes the hot button issues of today much like Stanley Kubrick did in 1963 with his black & white satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The film, set during the Cold War, finds an unpredictable and unhinged American general (George C. Scott) orders a bomb strike on the Soviet Union thus commencing a series of madcap and terrifying events that will lead to a nuclear holocaust.
One of the most intriguing aspects about satires is that they'll either farcically reenact true life events or paint a picture of a possible and terrifying future under the lens of black comedy. It's a film that is unapologetic in transforming bleakness into comedy and letting the audience know that the only people responsible for preventing this kind of situation from happening, isn't the audience, but the ruling class. Making tragedy into comedy is already a mighty task to tackle but Kubrick proved to be more than capable of telling the scarily funny story.
Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
Making a comedy about the end of the world is surprisingly common, This Is The End, The World's End, and Zombieland are just a few examples, but much like Don't Look Up, Lorene Scafaria's Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World really captures the dread along with the laughs. In the film, it's revealed that a mission to stop the planet-killing asteroid 'Matilda' has failed and that it will make impact in three weeks. Upon hearing the news, Dodge (Steve Carell) finds himself abandoned by his wife Linda. Feeling a sense of emotional numbness, Dodge plans to spend the rest of his days sulking, until he finds his neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) crying over her recent break-up and the fact that she has missed her last chance to see her family. The two end up forming a bond and going on a road trip to find Dodge's high school sweetheart and maybe, just maybe give Penny a chance to see her family again.
Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World has its fair share of raunch as well as a sense of sweetness. It focuses on people who have no control over the fate of humanity and over the course of its runtime you get the sense that the end is inevitable. It's equal parts haunting as well as charming and it's one of those films that may leave you misty-eyed by the time the credits roll.
Team America: World Police
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are satire veterans thanks to their animated series South Park, a series which became a cultural phenomenon, so leave it to them to make a satirical comedy about celebrity politics and world affairs using marionette puppets. Team America: World Police is a parody of the 60s puppet show Thunderbirds and focuses on Gary Johnston, a Broadway star who is recruited by the elite Team America to use his impressive acting skills to infiltrate a terrorist plot involving Kim Jung-Il.
Team America is smarter than it lets on and much like Don't Look Up, it skewers society's obsession with celebrities. Throughout the film, the titular team of puppets is at odds with a group of actors (the name of the organization will not be listed here, for reasons) who are against their "world-saving" ways. With memorable and hilarious songs, puppet sex, and Stone and Parker's trademark humor, Team America still remains one of the best political satires of the 21st century.
Wag The Dog
Barry Levinson has a fascinating career as a filmmaker from directing the Best Picture winner Rain Man, comedy classics like Good Morning Vietnam, and for the past decade he has been dipping his toes into making indie films, HBO movies, and miniseries. Wag The Dog still remains a favorite and has become a staple in the genre of political satire, using big stars like Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro to tell a story that shows just how much the government can spin the media narrative. In the film, a sex scandal puts the president in hot water and causes his re-election chances to plummet to rock bottom. Spin doctor Conrad Brean (De Niro) is brought in to take the media's attention off the scandal and works with Hollywood producer Stanley Motss to create a fake war that only the president can end.
Much like how Don't Look Up takes aim at how the US government can distract people from very real issues that paint them in a negative light, Wag The Dog uses this as its basis and takes no prisoners. Relentlessly funny but also acting as a warning, Wag The Dog has inspired many of the satires that have come after it and still remains relevant today.
Greenland
Unlike the other films on this list, Greenland is neither a political satire nor is it a comedy; it's a disaster movie, but one with more brains than you might expect. Like Don't Look Up, the cause of the apocalypse is an asteroid, but instead of looking at scientists or the government themselves, Greenland follows an average American family as they try to reach a safe haven as cities become levied by the asteroid's impact.
With the themes of mass panic, denial, seeking safety, and unity, Greenland is far different than what most may expect out of a film starring Gerard Butler. It's an intense experience and instead of primarily taking place before doomsday, Greenland is set in the midst of it. It's terrifying and even unpredictable and was a big surprise to many when it hit theaters last December.