It’s weird to think of January 1, 2000, as a historical date. For some of us, it may seem relatively recent. However, the relentless march of time has somehow brought us to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the turn of the millennia. It was the day much of society feared would descend us into chaos, or at least great inconvenience, due to the changing of computer calendars to a zero-zero date. In theory, this would make computers think we were in the year 1900 and all sorts of catastrophic computer failures would occur as a result. In retrospect, it seems strange that we were so worried about something like that. And, as it turns out, everything was fine.
But what if it hadn’t been? The film, Y2K, is an alternate history account of the first day of the millennia, a day where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Unfortunately for the kids in Y2K, it’s not just the ATM failures and computer data lockouts we all feared. Instead, legions of previously harmless, household tech turn into murderous robots, all skewering frantic teens and it’s up to our heroes to survive and try to save humanity. And, in case it’s not clear, this is a comedy.
The story starts just before New Year’s Eve, where a cross section of high schoolers are planning to party like it’s 1999. Quiet, video game loving Eli (Jaeden Martell) and his best friend Danny (Julian Dennison) are bored by their New Year’s Eve at home and decide to attend a big party thrown by one of the popular, athletic high schoolers, Soccer Chris (The Kid Laroi). Eli hopes to see the girl of his dreams, the also popular and secretly computer savvy, Laura (Rachel Zegler). In an intro scene, we see Eli and Danny with their supportive parents but we also see them being scoffed at by the popular kids for being too nerdy while also being bullied by the anti-establishment kids for being too mainstream. At the party, we get the set up of the mean, self-absorbed alpha-teens while Danny encourages Eli to be brave enough to share his true feelings with Laura. At the stroke of midnight things change when random electronic toys and household appliances suddenly attack the humans and kill them. As the panic ensues, Eli, Danny, Laura, and some of the anti-establishment crew, including grunge-girl Ash (Lachlan Watson) escape and try to find a way to survive and defeat the machines. Along the way, they meet more allies, suffer terrible losses, and discover that the machine attack is not just a Y2K bug but an organized uprising of machines against humanity. It’s sort of like The Terminator but with modified household appliances instead of sleek robots. The film gives some passing commentary on the ways humans misuse the internet for harm. But the real story is Eli’s coming of age, Laura finding her strength to try to defeat the machine monsters, and their rom-com moments amidst the death and chaos. The special effects are part of the humor with many of the machine attackers looking like a mini Radio Shack version of a Power Rangers Megazord. A funny scene involves Danny simply stomping a small, drill-toting robot instead of running (and tripping) hysterically like everyone else.
It's hard to know who the target audience is for this film. The onscreen tropes are intensely high school and juvenile but they are high school and juvenile for people who are now in their forties and fifties. Nostalgia-based adventures work best through a subtle lens of maturity for the current viewer base. Stranger Things did this well, at least in the early seasons, immersing us in the culture of the 1980’s with a nod to our current sensibilities. Y2K stays rooted in its very niche turn of the millennia aesthetic in a way that may not connect with viewers whose own experiences of that time differed greatly. As a result, many of the references and gags don’t resonate the way they were likely intended. Some lines made me laugh out loud but others sent me Googling mid-scene to try to understand the comment. The overall humor style also feels like a combination of Monty Python and Stranger Things but the underlying story heads in a different thematic direction. At one point there is an extended scene involving Limp Bizkit which was mostly lost on me.
A comedy slasher/horror is one of the hardest sub-genres to execute, especially if it is not a parody. The humor has to be clever enough or the adventure has to be engaging enough for viewers to stay entertained. The concept of Y2K is interesting and the lead cast is solid and likeable. Despite this, the story often struggles to maintain the difficult balance between humor and adventure. The adventure is comfortably predictable with some funny moments but much of the humor may slide past those who aren’t in the particular demographic niche referenced. Somewhere out there is a Monty Python-loving, Limp Bizkit fan in need of a relatively short, teen rom-com slasher and, for them, this movie will be the perfect adventure.
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The Math
Nerd Coefficient: 6/10
Highlights:
Nerd Coefficient: 6/10
Highlights:
- Moderately violent
- Solid acting
- Unclear target audience
