Retro '90s Technology Attacks In The First Trailer For Kyle Mooney's Horror Comedy Y2K

A24 has released the first trailer for the upcoming horror/comedy "Y2K." Yes, that title is very direct in that this film deals with the infamous turn of the millennium, when people all around the world were concerned that technology was going to go haywire at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1999. When the calendar rolled over to the year 2000 in real life, it was all for nothing. However, "Saturday Night Live" alum Kyle Mooney presents us with a very different scenario in his feature directorial debut.

The trailer kicks off like a pretty run-of-the-mill teen comedy, with a boy pining for a girl, finally getting his chance to make a move at a high school party full of cool kids. It just so happens that this party is taking place on New Year's Eve in 1999, and as soon as midnight rolls around, everything changes. In this alternate reality, everything goes wrong and heads roll. The results are both bloody and hilarious, with "Y2K" currently named as one of the best comedies of the year by /Film. Not for nothing, but the trailer also makes great use of "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba, a staple of late '90s culture.

The cast is led by Jaeden Martell ("Knives Out"), Rachel Zegler ("The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"), and Julian Dennison ("Godzilla vs. Kong"). The film also features a couple of big-name musicians in The Kid Laroi and Fred Durst. Yes, that's Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame. This movie is nothing if not authentic.

Mooney has quietly been on the cutting-edge of the modern comedy scene for some time. Aside from his work on "SNL," he was also a writer on Nathan Fielder's beloved "Nathan for You," as well as penning 2017's fantastic "Brigsby Bear" and "Saturday Morning All Star Hits!" for Netflix. But this is his first time taking over the director's chair, and having seen the film at SXSW earlier this year, I can confidently say the man's future is promising. This film may not be for everyone, but the people it is for are going to love it.

Nostalgia for the 1980s has been a hot topic for a good while, with shows like "Stranger Things" and movies like "It" becoming wildly popular, largely thanks to hitting those nostalgic notes. The '90s were a long time ago too, and as hard as that may be for some of us to hear, '90s nostalgia is seemingly poised to get a similar pop in the coming years. Mooney revisiting an event as infamous as Y2K through a "What if?" lens has a lot of potential to reach people who were there to see the whole lot of nothing go down.

/Film's Jacob Hall gave "Y2K" a positive review out of SXSW, musing that "even when the late '90s were garbage, it was our garbage." Mooney co-wrote the film with Evan Winter, which marks his feature debut. Winter also produced the film alongside Jonah Hill, Matt Dines, Alison Goodwin, Chris Storer and Cooper Wehde.

"Y2K" hits theaters on December 6, 2024.