Don’t Look Up’s Ending Explained By Leonardo DiCaprio

The satirical science-fiction movie, Don’t Look Up, has audiences discussing how dark the film’s ending is, including its stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who recently explained the ending in an interview. The film is directed by Adam McKay, who recently stated that the film was inspired by his own anxieties concerning the future of the Earth due to climate change. The former Saturday Night Live writer is best known for directing the incredibly popular comedy hits, Step Brothers and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, before turning to more political docudramas, The Big Short and Vice.

Don’t Look Up involves many of Hollywood’s big names, including the likes of Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Cate Blanchett and Timothée Chalamet, as well as famous music artists Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi. The Netflix film centers on two astronomers who discover an apocalyptic comet that will wipe out the Earth in six months, with the US government and most of current society disregarding their scientific evidence. Don’t Look Up has received mixed reviews so far, with the film being McKay’s lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring at 56%.

Now, Digital Spy reveals that when DiCaprio and Lawrence spoke to the Los Angeles Times, they reflected on and explained the film’s bleak ending. Both DiCaprio and Lawrence talked about how they acknowledge the film’s climate change allegory and how important the subject is. DiCaprio says that Don’t Look Up’s ending is a real “smack in the face.” Read his quote below:

“The end of this movie gets really dark, and had it not had that tonal shift, I don’t think we would have been excited as we were to do it. That’s what I loved about the ending, because I felt like that’s ultimately how I would respond. We’re a communal species, and I would want to be around people I love and ignore the impending Armageddon. That dinner table scene is really what clinched it for me.”

Lawerence further adds to DiCaprio’s points saying that “to be a citizen that believes in climate change” is very frustrating and makes her feel “helpless.” Her character, Kate Dibiansky, mirrors the same frustrations, being the most helpless character in the film, especially compared to her partner, Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio). Randall is initially more concerned than Kate but gets distracted by the attention he is getting from the public. However, he does eventually re-gain sight of the bigger picture, with Don’t Look Up’s ending giving him redemption and letting him die with his family, despite being told by Peter Isherwell’s algorithm that he would die alone.

Despite the mixed reviews, the film largely focuses on current society’s many distractions away from climate change, such as social media, political battles, and celebrities’ lives (all mentioned in the film). It does exceptionally well with combining the comedic satire with the dark subject matter, a film full of hilarious cutaway gags. Don’t Look Up had a short theatrical release before hitting Netflix on Christmas Eve, so far getting a lot of interest from many of the streaming platform’s subscribers.

Source: Los Angeles Times (via Digital Spy)