Don’t Look Up’s Best Picture Oscar Nod Confounds Movie Fans: ‘Worst Film in a Long Time’

Leia IdlibyFeb 8th, 2022, 10:05 am
 

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in 'Don't Look Up'

The Academy Awards nominees were announced on Tuesday morning, and Twitter has taken issue with one film in particular.

Adam McKay’s end of the world satire Don’t Look Up, which received less than stellar reviews, was nominated for original score, original screenplay, film editing, and the very coveted best picture.

While Don’t Look Up received a solid 78 percent as their audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film ultimately failed to earn a “fresh” rating from critics with a score of 56 percent.

Critics largely found that McKay’s film lacked subtlety as a satire and was too heavy-handed.

“McKay’s movies are not particularly pointed in their satire and, as time has gone on, have increasingly settled into their preferred form of a harangue,” wrote New York Magazine’s Alison Willmore.

“Clearly a commentary on global warming, which folds neatly into a treatise on our ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Don’t Look Up takes aim at plenty of ills — especially the scourge of science-deniers,” Salon’s Tim Grierson said in his review. “But a smug, self-satisfied approach proves insufficient at addressing the legitimate woes at core of this picture.”

Rotten Tomatoes even highlighted critics’ response to the film following the Academy’s announcement, sharing the “Tomatometer” of each best picture nominee.

Every nominated film earned a score of 80 percent or above, except for Don’t Look Up, which failed to secure a percentage above 60 — deeming it “rotten.”

Twitter flooded with responses to the Academy Awards nominations, many of which focused on Don’t Look Up’s repeated presence on the list:

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