Don't Look Up Trailer: Leonardo DiCaprio And Jennifer Lawrence Try To Warn Us About The End Of The World

There have been plenty of movies about the end of the world. Within that subgenre, a handful of them have been about an asteroid being on a collision course with Earth and threatening to destroy the planet. In 1998 alone there were two of them in the same year. Now director Adam McKay is trying his hand at the end of the world with "Don't Look Up," another story about a comet that spells extinction-level trouble for the citizens of this planet. The only problem is, when Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) try to warn everybody, no one really seems to be taking it seriously. Take a peek in the first trailer for "Don't Look Up" below.

Director Adam McKay is clearly taking a satirical approach to the end of the world with this movie. In the teaser, DiCaprio and Lawrence try to have a serious conversation with the President of the United States (Meryl Streep) and one of her advisors (Jonah Hill), only to be met with exasperation. The synopsis for the movie teases even more struggles for the duo as they try to deal with the 24-hour news cycle and social media in the six months leading up to the comet's impact. 

Here's how Netflix describes the movie in their official synopsis:

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it's too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!

This is undoubtedly an unsubtle way of illustrating how the leaders in our society and those who should be providing us with valuable information have treated what should be regarded as important news. Surely this is meant to be an allegory for global warming or any of the other major issues faces our society that seem to be glossed over in favor of more sensational headlines. 

McKay has dabbled with the satirical approach to real-life people and events with the likes of "Vice" and "The Big Short." Even "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" took aim at the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle and infotainment alongside some of the filmmaker's trademark absurd comedy. But with "Don't Look Up," he appears to be leaning full tilt into topical satire with a tone that calls to mind "Dr. Strangelove" or "Jojo Rabbit." Hopefully it ends up being just as good as those examples.

"Don't Look Up" arrives on Netflix on December 24, 2021.