By Robert Scucci
| Published
I hate nostalgia because we all view the past through rose colored glasses, and most of the time revisiting the things we love shatters the illusion of how “things were better” back in the day because they really weren’t. We were just kids and didn’t have significant responsibilities or people depending on us, so we long for the days where things were perceived as simpler even though our parents were probably also losing their minds over the same stuff we’re freaking out over today now that we’re all grown up. So when I went into watching A24’s Y2K, I figured this would be your typical cash grab for aging millennials so they can get their much-needed dose of Member Berries before getting back to “adulting.”
I was so very wrong in my assessment because not only is Y2K a nuclear bomb of pointless nostalgia, it’s absolutely ruthless in its self-awareness, which allows it to simultaneously make fun of the audience, let them in on the joke, and then lean into the joke so hard that it stops being funny, but only before coming back 10 times harder and leaving you gasping for breath over how profoundly idiotic it truly is.
At least this was my experience.
Hard To Talk About Without Spoiling
I’m going to give you the most basic rundown of Y2K, and why I think it works because it’s structured in such a way that I can let you in on the mechanics of the movie without spoiling some of the big reveals.
A group of friends tries to crash a New Year’s Eve party in 1999. At midnight, all hell breaks loose when every single appliance at the party goes on a murder spree; toasters, blenders, VCRs … you name the technology, and it’s probably impaling, grinding up, or smashing the faces of a bunch of innocent teenagers in the most brutal ways possible.
A sentient Macintosh computer absorbs other closeby appliances and grows into a mega bot that hunts kids down through the woods as if it were Jason Voorhees.
A girl who embodies every single tech nerd trope of the 90s (think Hackers) knows all about mainframes, malware, and knows exactly how to take down the robot uprising because she designed the school’s crappy website … or something.
Lots of Limp Bizkit.
Like I said, this is all so incredibly stupid, but that’s the point.
Why It Works
Without proper context (growing up in the 90s, or at the very least being aware of what kids were into if you were an adult), Y2K’s humor will be lost on you, and that’s okay. But if you’re in on the joke, you’ll realize that every single Simpsons reference and technological movie trope coming from the decade that inspired this movie is executed to perfection.
Of course a VCR, which isn’t connected to the internet, is able to gain sentience because it’s simply sitting near something that’s connected to a modem. Of course skateboards are destroying the youth. And I know I said no spoilers, but of course Fred Durst will put on his backward red Yankees cap as if he were Thor himself being reunited with his hammer because the day of reckoning has begun and we need a fearless hero to help spearhead the human resistance against the robot uprising.
That’s right, we basically have a modern version of Chopping Mall technology combined with some seriously chunky Nu Metal riffs, which makes it all feel like the entire production was sponsored by Jolt Cola.
The best way to describe Y2K is a self-aware love letter to 90s nostalgia designed for people who absolutely hate this kind of thing. While watching Y2K, I never once thought to myself, “that’s cheap,” but instead woke my family up on multiple occasions because I was laughing so hard at the ridiculousness of it all– the whole movie plays out like something our parents would make for us back in the 90s in a misguided attempt to look cool in front of their kids.
Your Mileage May Vary
Listen, you’re either going to love Y2K or absolutely hate it, which is fine. But if you’re of a certain age, long for the good old days but can’t get past your own cynicism, and need a good laugh that’s at your expense because the only way you know how to feel emotions is through self-flagellation, then you’re in for such a treat.
And for everybody hating this movie … I understand. I know full well that this is the dumbest movie that I’ve seen in about a decade, but it’s just so satisfying to watch what starts out as a generic retro-futuristic teen scream movie go off the rails so quickly and continue to shamelessly forge its own path as it absolutely demolishes your expectations with each passing scene while every single character plays it completely straight.
Y2K is so dumb and over the top, but it’s not trying to be anything else. And for that, it has my infinite respect because I’ve never laughed so hard at a sci-fi “thriller” in a very long time.
As of this writing, you can stream Y2K on Max.
