Leonardo DiCaprio’s Next Movie Will Make Up For Don’t Look Up’s Failures

After the critical disappointment of Don’t Look Up, Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming role in Killers of the Flower Moon promises to make up for his appearance in such a poorly received movie. For the past decade, DiCaprio has sought out impactful movies with meaning, but his most recent choice of role let audiences down. While the indictment of finance culture in The Wolf of Wall Street and the depiction of humankind’s relationship to nature in The Revenant resonated with audiences and critics, the climate change allegory in Don’t Look Up felt very on the nose. As valuable as the message of Don’t Look Up was, many viewers found the movie’s approach smug. As a result, the movie’s reception was very mixed, prompting the need for DiCaprio’s next project to move in a different direction.

Adam McKay’s satire addressed topical issues like climate change, but did so in a way that did not play to the director’s comedic strengths. In a cast littered with prestigious actors, none of them failed to deliver good performances, but their talents simply fell flat in such a baffling movie. Even proven comedic talents like Jonah Hill failed to be funny. This is no slight against the parade of performers that headline Don’t Look Up alongside DiCaprio. But, because of the odd mix of tones, their performances struggled to resonate with audiences, who have become accustomed to a higher quality of movie from these actors.

By contrast, DiCaprio’s next movie promises a return to critical form. DiCaprio will be returning to work with Martin Scorsese for the first time since The Wolf of Wall Street with Killers of the Flower Moon, due out in 2022. The pair have previously collaborated on titles like The Departed and Shutter Island with great results. Killers of the Flower Moon will tackle a historical instance of violence against Native Americans in the 1920s. This heavier subject matter can be trusted to Scorsese, unlike Adam McKay’s bizarre handling of an apocalyptic scenario in Don’t Look Up. This collaboration will surely put DiCaprio at the center of discussions for acting awards next awards season.

While Don’t Look Up has certainly commanded a lot of attention, it’s reception has been predominantly mixed or negative. Rather than representing complex individuals, the characters in Don’t Look Up more often represented viewpoints. This made it difficult for the talented cast to get much out of their roles, and resulted in less impressive performances than audiences expected from Don’t Look Up and its cast of award-winning actors. DiCaprio, in particular, failed to shine as he had in previous lead performances, perhaps because the role asked so little of him besides his name in the credits. Despite agreeing with the movie’s message, this may have been a disappointing outcome for DiCaprio.

Killers of the Flower Moon promises to give DiCaprio more to work with. As the villainous Ernest Burkhart, DiCaprio will get to play a despicable character whose motivations and mannerisms he can sink into in a way that Don’t Look Up did not require of him. He and Scorsese already succeeded in creating a moving depiction of a despicable person in 2013 when DiCaprio played Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. Killers of the Flower Moon will certainly be a very different movie, but DiCaprio and Scorsese’s history together promises to make this collaboration special.

Don’t Look Up was not a total failure, as it offered the rare opportunity for audiences to see award-winning actors tackle more comedic material, but with an urgent message. The result, however, was mixed. For an actor like DiCaprio who films a movie once every several years, Don’t Look Up felt like a misstep, but 2022 promises to correct this. Killers of the Flower Moon will explore new territory for both actor and director, and will certainly be at the center of awards season conversations in a year’s time.