It is the year 2025… so why are we just now getting a movie named Y2K?
Remember at the turn of the century when all the ‘professional’ techies said – electronics made from the mid-90s and earlier were going to, at the least, the time did not acknowledge the coming 2000 but revert back to 1900 or, worst case scenario, shut down altogether?
In his directorial debut, Writer Kyle Mooney unleashed his Sci-Fi, Comedy, and Horror, aptly named Y2K. It first premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024, and was most recently released broadly in theaters through A24 on December 6, 2024. Then, just before Christmas, on December 24th, it became available to watch at home.
Featuring an interesting cast, the film stars Jaeden Martell (It 2017, Arcadian 2024), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story 2021, Shazham! Fury of the Gods 2023), Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2 2018, Godzilla vs. Kong 2021), Daniel Zolghadri (Eighth Grade 2018, Ready Player One 2018), Lachlan Watson (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series, Chucky series), Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst (Population 436 2006, I Saw the TV Glow 2024), and Alicia Silverstone (The Crush 1993, Clueless 1995).
The story follows two high school nobodies who decide to crash the last major celebration before the new millennium on New Year’s Eve, 1999. When the clock strikes midnight, the night becomes even crazier than they could have dreamed.
Contrary to Y2K’s poor ratings via sites like Rotten Tomatoes, it is a fun, nostalgic, stupid ride that finds its heart through, especially after the throwaway characters, specifically the stoners, get offed with the theme of acceptance. Is the horror over the top, and is the comedy asinine, which could be a dealbreaker for some to get to the heart? Sure, but there is fun to be had if one lets it in. And the nostalgia for those of us who were around for the AOL days, the opening with AOL booting up on dial-up on a box screen desktop complete with buffering video, really brings you back.
Fred Durst and Alicia Silverstone as Jaeden Martell’s (Eli) folks ham it up, while the core group of Dennison’s Danny, Zegler’s Laura, and Watson’s Ash play it pretty straight. The rest of the cast of delinquents bring the asinine and are just fodder. It is the core group coming from different cliques coming together to survive and learn. They have much more in common than Y2K has its heart.
Kyle Mooney said he wanted to make Y2K revisit films and musicians like Fatboy Slim, Limp Bizkit, and Mandy Moore from his childhood and create a movie that would be fun to watch with friends. Mooney and Evan Winter, in his feature writing debut, were excited about the technology element of the movie, as well as the quaint and anachronistic feel. Furthermore, Mooney shot the movie in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio that was predominantly used through the 90s. However, he decided to go digital for the sound mixing instead of staying true to the ’90s use of analog sound.
Critics have mostly thrashed the movie, saying Y2K feels put together from discarded pieces of other movies, fusing together pieces of Slasher Horror, Sci-Fi Disaster, Stoner Teen Comedy, and snarky social commentary. At the same time, others quasi-praised it. The general audience’s reviews have been extreme and all over the place.
At the end of the day, whether viewers can bring themselves back to their mindset in the 1990s will probably determine whether they like the movie or not. Sci-fi, Horror, and Comedy are fun, even if they are as over the top or asinine as possible. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Y2K 4 out of 5 stars.
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