Y2K (United States, 2024)

How’s this for an alternate history scenario: What if tech companies had failed to identify or address the Y2K bug prior to 12:01 on January 1, 2000? I have always thought this concept might make for a fascinating movie. Sadly, that movie is not Y2K. Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney, making his directorial debut, is less interested in developing a science fiction history reboot than crafting a horror comedy sorely lacking in both scares and laughs. Although there are a few amusing instances when the film goes over-the-top with gore, those don’t save what’s ultimately a bad zombie apocalypse film with the undead replaced by robots.

Mooney’s goal with Y2K appears to be to make a film that falls into the “so bad it’s good” category. To that end, it features atrocious acting, no chemistry between the romantic leads, a dumb storyline, cheap-looking robot monsters, and juvenile attempts at humor at every junction. The problem is that one can’t plan a cult classic. Movies made with the goal of joining that illustrious club rarely (if ever) succeed. Instead, they end up being met with derision before being forgotten. That fate likely awaits Y2K which, aside from a couple of clever gags, can offer no compelling defense for its existence.

At the outset, the movie seems to be going in a teensploitation/rom-com direction. (The Superbad echoes are presumably intentional since Jonah Hill is listed as a producer.) We’re introduced to a couple of buddies – introvert Eli (Jaeden Martell) and outgoing Danny (Julian Dennison) – two high school social outcasts who have shown up for a 1999 New Year’s Eve party with the primary goal of giving Eli a chance to make a move on his long-time crush, popular girl Laura (Rachel Zegler). But Laura has a boyfriend, Eli lacks courage, and then, at the stroke of midnight, all hell breaks loose. “Y2K is real!” shouts someone and soon thereafter, the carnage begins as electronic devices interlock to create huge, monstrous, murderous creatures controlled by a single computer intelligence. The survivors of the house party massacre (easily the movie’s most enjoyable sequence) flee to a safe place out in the woods and are soon joined by druggie guru Garrett (Kyle Mooney) and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst (playing a highly exaggerated version of himself) as Eli and Laura seek to develop a plan to save civilization.

One of the central problems with Y2K is that, when it isn’t engaged in splattering the screen with blood and viscera, it’s boring. The underdeveloped characters can’t hold the viewer’s attention and the lame romance between Eli and Laura never generates even a degree of heat. The narrative is so poorly thought-out that the viewer fails to become invested in the characters’ quest. Horror-comedies need to do more than toss out a decapitation or two to go along with sophomoric jokes. There are enough good examples out there that one doesn’t have to go dumpster-diving for something like this.

The time period is obviously important to Y2K but the film never establishes its reality as being anything other than “slightly before contemporary times.” I suppose using Fred Durst (who was a prominent figure around the turn of the century) is a nod to the era but the film’s soundtrack has a lackluster, generic rhythm and it’s ironic that the most noteworthy song in the movie is George Michael’s “Faith” (as performed by Durst) – a hit in late 1987 and early 1988. (We don’t get Prince’s “1999”, which every party was playing that night, presumably because the budget wouldn’t have supported it.) Tonally, Y2K is all over the place, which is one reason why it’s unable to scare when that would be appropriate while generating laughter along the way.

I am somewhat baffled by the release strategy employed by A24 regarding the film. If ever there was a February release, this is it. However, the indie studio elected to release it into an overheated early December market featuring three blockbusters and a slew of would-be Oscar contenders. They cynic in me wonders whether the theatrical release is less about filling back-of-the-multiplex seats than avoiding a “direct-to-streaming” label. Regardless, even at a relatively svelte 91 minutes, Y2K fails to offer enough to justify its feature length.

Y2K (United States, 2024)