Review: SNL Alum Kyle Mooney Directs Y2K, Part High School Sex Comedy, Part Technology Apocalypse

In the new comedy from first-time director/co-writer/co-star and SNL alum Kyle Mooney (who co-wrote the impressive Brigsby Bear in 2017), the collective anxiety surrounding potential disasters occurring as 1999 became 2000 is a subject ripe for exploration. Mooney and co-writer Evan Winter have turned Y2K into the story of two high school juniors (played by Jaeden Martell and Julian Dennison) who are trying to use the fear of the Y2K bug—that as New Year’s Eve 1999 becomes New Year’s Day 2000, the world might end because computers aren't programmed for the new millenium—to convince high school girls to sleep with them before it’s too late. Not exactly classy, but not the worst excuse for sex we’ve ever heard in movies.

But what starts out as a fairly harmless, watered-down version of Superbad becomes a science-fiction, alternate-history adventure as all things with a computer brain start to physically come together and form giant robots made of 25-year-old electronics that want to destroy the human race right as the clock strikes midnight. Rachel Zegler plays Laura, a pretty nerd who Martell’s Eli has a crush on, even though she’s dating another guy. But together, their combined smarts are helpful in outsmarting the hive-mind killer robots and coming up with ways to stop their attacks.

The film also features Alicia Silverstone and Tim Heidecker as Eli’s parents, Mooney himself as a stoner video store clerk that has a certain level of survival skills, and even Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst (as himself), who is scheduled to play in town that night and is sidelined when the robot apocalypse begins. But his music might just be a key to stopping the threat as well. Also look for a brief appearance by rapper The Kid Laroi as Eli’s main tormenter, Soccer Chris.

I’ll give Y2K points for leaning hard into the blood and violence that the robots cause, and for the robot designs in general (done by Weta), which seem like a hodgepodge of various toys, computer monitors, cell phones, and other smart electronics, all combined to cause maximum pain and suffering. As for the characters, that’s where the film becomes inconsistent. Whenever it simply focuses on the life, times and loves of the three leads, I was there for it. The three have chemistry, even when Dennison’s Danny abandons his friends at a party because a girl seems interested in him. The needle drops are solid, but predictable, and the late-1990s references and attitude seem authentic and well researched.

But like most films about that era of technology, there’s a lot of frantic keyboard tapping that seems to magically get the user the exact information or result they were hoping for without any mistakes or failures. Director Mooney seems to be going for not only a film about the ’90s, but done in the style of a movie of that period, which is fine. I’m just not sure it works most of the time. I like the idea behind Y2K more than the execution or final product; it’s a closer call than I was expecting, but I was a big Brigsby Bear admirer, so maybe that shouldn’t be too surprising.

The film is now playing in theaters.

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Steve Prokopy

Steve Prokopy is chief film critic for the Chicago-based arts outlet Third Coast Review. For nearly 20 years, he was the Chicago editor for Ain’t It Cool News, where he contributed film reviews and filmmaker/actor interviews under the name “Capone.” Currently, he’s a frequent contributor at /Film (SlashFilm.com) and Backstory Magazine. He is also the public relations director for Chicago's independently owned Music Box Theatre, and holds the position of Vice President for the Chicago Film Critics Association. In addition, he is a programmer for the Chicago Critics Film Festival, which has been one of the city's most anticipated festivals since 2013.