There’s a lot to be said for a movie that’s earnestly itself and leans into that self-identity unapologetically. And that’s exactly what viewers will get when they go to see Y2K in theaters. 25% gory horror, 25% coming-of-age tale, 25% resonant romance, and 25% bawdy comedy, Y2K is 100% unadulterated late ‘90s/early 2000s nostalgia. Clearly crafted by people who feel that era to their core, it’s a super-fun trip down memory lane for viewers of a certain age and an entertaining deep-cut look into the past for those who aren’t. Plus, of course, killer machines in the form of tech merging together, d’uh. What more could you ask for from a movie? Well, that’d honestly be enough, but on top of all of that, Y2K also makes some salient points about our world today. How is that for the full package?
What does watching Y2K feel like? Kind of like eating a pack of gushers while snapping at yourself with a slap bracelet. (Why did those go out of fashion again?) Right from the start, Y2K is committed to getting 1999 right down to the last dial tone. Away messages with ridiculous quotes? It’s got ‘em. The Thong Song? Done. The feeling of seeing your crush across the way in a crowded living room full of your high school classmates? It’s there. But the trappings of nostalgia aren’t just set decorations. The feeling of the time, that specific earnestness of watching a page load pixel by pixel and having to ride a bike to get anywhere, brims out from the movie. It covers all of its characters in its sheen, and despite their sometimes absurd, sometimes annoying, very teenage ways, you fall in love with them all.
Jaeden Martell leads Y2K as the perfectly average Eli. And that’s a compliment; it’s hard to capture the feeling of being “just another weird kid” in such a satisfying way. Julian Dennison absolutely steals the show as Eli’s best friend, Danny, and if I have one complaint about the movie, it’s a spoiler that you’ll understand as soon as you watch it. Rachel Zegler is also the exact right choice for Laura, part popular, part nerdy, the Rachel Zegler specialty. Honestly, Zegler was born to play the part of a “but I’m nice to you, aren’t I?” popular girl from high school. Daniel Zolghadri and Lachlan Watson also shine as a friendship odd-couple and round out the Y2K team really nicely. (And Watson is honestly amazing in everything, so it’s not a surprise! Watch them in Chucky and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.)
Of course, things can’t just stay in idyllic high school drama forever. When the clock strikes midnight in 1999, every piece of technology (yes, even your computer) turns against humanity, threatening to transform them into exactly what it seems like they want to be: slaves to the machines. This concept could have overreached itself, creating a story that didn’t feel realistic centering around a group of hapless teens just doing their best to find friends, fall in love, and make it to tomorrow. But instead, Y2k aims for the appropriate size of the story, noting the machines are starting their total takeover of just one small town.
And that lets the story of a misfit group which consists of, as mentioned, Martell’s average Joe, Zegler’s popular girl, Watson’s queer weirdo (we love), and Zolghadri’s slightly pretentious rapper wannabe (and strangely, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst), plus a few other friends, saving the world, feel like one we can get on board with.
Although it knows its scope, Y2K also knows it’s kind of absurd. And delightfully, it leans all the way into that absurdity. The monsters of the movie are so ridiculous and campy that they circle back to being kind of scary. Because if you had to face something so nutty that could also chainsaw your face, you probably would be screaming, too. Fabulously, the movie utilizes practical technology Frankensteins, which adds a fun modicum of irony to the tale. You see, the A.I. behind the machines takes physical form by looping together pieces of technology in all kinds of wacky bodies. Practical creations are needed so the A.I. can dominate the world; that sounds just about right. One particular scene, where a machine body reaches out with its wire fingers, particularly stands out as a clever creation.
But despite this sort of silly sheen, the movie pulls no punches. There are deaths that hit without warning and A LOT of blood and gore. No one is really safe from the Y2K reign of terror, and that was definitely unexpected but gratifying from the film. Although sad! Because, as we mentioned, we really like many of the characters we meet.
And ultimately, there’s depth to the message of Y2K that is more real today than it ever was in the ‘90s. Technology is cool until it’s not cool. And behind sleek screens, it’s not really your friend. Interestingly, the A.I. and hive mind of tech wasn’t depicted as some sleek villain in Y2K, not really that smart, stylish, or charismatic. It was just an amalgamation of surreal, sinister designs that wanted to ruin your life in the dopiest way. And that’s the most cutting referendum on A.I. that I’ve seen in a good, long time. Y2K cautions that this was true in the ‘90s and invites you to imagine just how bad/aggravating machines come to life might be today.
I will say that I myself was never a teenage boy in the late ’90s, and so not all the parts of this movie’s nostalgia, humor, and perspective totally hit for me, and they may not for you. But in the end, as a film, Y2K knows what kind of movie it is, and it goes all in. And that’s worth a cheers with a whiskey drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink, and a cider drink.
Y2K is now in theaters.
