"This is gonna be our year. No, our millennium."
Get ready to relive New Year's Eve 1999 with A24's new film "Y2K." The 90-minute film directed by Kyle Mooney stars new Hollywood faces and transports audiences back in time to live out a night of unhinged comedy and suspense.
The film follows two juniors in high school, Eli and Danny, played by Jaeden Martell and Julian Dennison. The pair are on the edge of greatness as they intend to have the night of their lives and change their underdog social status when crashing the cool kids' New Year's party. But as the clock strikes 12, fear becomes reality and the Y2K bug storms all electronic devices.
In a college roundtable interview, director Kyle Mooney said the hysteria surrounding Y2K was mysterious as a young teenager.
"All I knew was that the computers couldn't, for some reason, make this jump from 99 to 00," Mooney said. "They thought it would be 1900 rather than 2000 and we were told that mayhem would occur because of this."
This digital chaos leaves the pair of best friends to team up with bullies and crushes alike to save their town and the world from techno domination.
"Y2K" dips its toes into a number of genres including elements of horror, comedy and sci-fi, but the true heart of this film is the cast, comedy and dedication to the time period.
Nostalgia is on the rise and the film taps into that — from the soundtrack composed of '90s hits to the butterfly clip hairstyles and set design.
Mooney said he and production looked at photos and archives from the '90s to achieve an accurate portal. He said it was a lot of "pulling pics and sort of trying to come up with an amalgamation of something that hopefully is representative of any person who lived at that time."
The film not only puts the viewer back in 1999 but transports them back to high school, where all things began and ended with popularity. Yes, the world is falling apart, but at the same time, you're concerned with whether or not Eli's crush likes him back. That's just the way a teenage brain functions, even in disaster scenarios.
The plot of the film doesn't take itself too seriously but the cast did not come to play. Dennison is a standout playing Danny and makes every second on screen memorable and hilarious. Martell, coincidentally, is back in theaters playing a lovable loser riding his bike and running for his life.
Rachel Zegler plays the role of Laura, who is Eli's crush and one of the most popular girls in school, making her majorly out of his league. On the opposite side of popular, Lachlan Watson plays Ash, a spunky teen obsessed with their camera who represents all 90s alternative kids out there.
With its 90-minute runtime, "Y2K" packs a punch. It's raunchy, gory and, above all, hilarious. It's fun to watch a group of misfits who wouldn't interact outside of given circumstances band together, save the world and maybe even become friends along the way.
Be prepared for a world where Blockbuster still exists and the hottest thing a guy could wear is a puka shell necklace. Expect some notable faces from the past as well, with a Cameo from Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, whose role in saving the universe will shock you.
Is "Y2K" the peak of cinema as we know it? No. But it is a heck of a good time and definitely is a film you want to experience in theaters. Debuting Dec. 6, nationwide, take some friends out and experience what the world almost came to be on the eve of our current millennium.
Editor's note: The review presented in this column are the author's and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at jagon128@asu.edu and follow @jazz_jazz on Letterboxd.
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Jazlyn is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
