The year has finally come to an end, and obviously, not many will find 2020 to be a memorable year. It would be absurd to rank which event was worse, however, sometimes when there are many bad or crazy things to recount, we should take them as something to laugh about. And that's exactly what Death To 2020, Netflix's new comedy special, is all about.
Directed by Charlie Brooker and the creators of the sci-fi hit series Black Mirror, Death To 2020 chronicles the story of the dreadful year that has just past. The film is presented in a documentary style with real-life archival footage spanning the last 12 months as well as narration from some of the world's most celebrated voices such as Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow, Kumail Nanjiani among others.
With its ties to Black Mirror, one may get an impression that this could be a dark tech thriller with a depressing recollection of an equally sad year, however, Death To 2020 actually was quite the opposite. This 70-minute film is actually funny and spot-on. While we may feel that there is no need to be reminded of all the awful events that transpired last year, there is something cathartic about a film that revisits everything we have just lived through. In fact, Death To 2020 is intended to mock the state of the year 2020, highlighting big news items such as the Australia fires, the US presidential election, struggles in the film industry, social movements like Black Lives Matter, and the pandemic among other topics. It's full of well-written sarcasm and snarky comments that were designed to poke fun and even offend almost everybody. Well, it's not to say that the topics that are covered are funny because they're not, however, the film's satire does tickle the funny bone.
The highlights of the film are definitely all the wonderful cast members who offer their comments on every subject and event, even though they're playing fictional characters. Yet, it is still very interesting to get their take on the things that happened in 2020. So, we get Samuel L Jackson playing the cynical, loudmouth reporter who compares Greta Thunberg with Billie Eilish as both are teenage girls who became famous even though everything they say is depressing; Hugh Grant as an annoying historian who compares this year to Game Of Thrones; Lisa Kudrow as a conservative spokesperson who may have you rolling on the floor laughing because she's the perfect embodiment of every White House official working under Donald Trump, denying everything while saying nothing. However, my favourite was Samson Kayo in the role of a scientist, whose explanations are accompanied by ridiculously visual illustrations and Kumail Nanjiani, a billionaire and CEO of a tech company who has bought a mountain in New Zealand as a personal bunker to hide in case of a global warming disaster.
While I thought that the mockumentary would be a quick binge and strong narrative about 2020, some of the downsides I found about the show was the fact that it's not going to be all that funny to a lot of people as some of these topics and jokes may offend someone. This is especially the case regarding the political landscape this year, whether it was Trump's impeachment or Joe Biden vs Bernie Sanders, which covers nearly half of the 70-minute run time. While the film pokes poke fun at both sides, I found all the jokes to be flat and repetitive. Another thing that you need to keep in mind is that Death To 2020 is mostly from an American and British point of view, so it's mostly about how 2020 impacted those two countries and cultures. If you aren't following news from that side of the world, maybe this movie isn't for you. But be that as it may, this is a good mockumentary with comedy that stays consistent and you better check it out while you still can because 2021 is right here and who knows what else is going to come.
- Death to 2020
- Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Laurence Fishburne
- Directed by Charlie Brooker
- Now streaming on Netflix
