''Y2K'' is a 2024 American apocalyptic

science fiction comedy Science fiction comedy (sci-fi comedy) or comic science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that exploits the science fiction genre's conventions for comedic effect. The genre often mocks or satirizes standard science fic ...

film directed by

Kyle Mooney Kyle James Kozub Mooney (born September 4, 1984) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. Mooney was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2013 to 2022. In 2017, he co-wrote and starr ...

in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, written by Mooney and Evan Winter. It stars

Jaeden Martell Jaeden Martell ( né Lieberher; born January 4, 2003) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, with roles in the comedy drama '' St. Vincent'' (2014) and science fiction film '' Midnight Special'' (2016). His performance in ''S ...

Rachel Zegler Rachel Anne Zegler ( ; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She gained wide recognition for playing María in Steven Spielberg's musical adaptation ''West Side Story (2021 film), West Side Story'' (2021), winning the Golden Glo ...

, Julian Dennison,

The Kid Laroi Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...

, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, Lauren Balone, Eduardo Franco, and

Fred Durst William Frederick Durst (born Frederick Allen Mayne III; August 20, 1970) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and director. He is the frontman and lyricist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, formed in 1994, with whom he has release ...

. It follows a group of high school students who attempt to survive when the

year 2000 problem The term year 2000 problem, or simply Y2K, refers to potential computer errors related to the Time formatting and storage bugs, formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after the year 2000. Many Computer program, programs repr ...

causes all technology worldwide to come to life and turn against humanity. ''Y2K'' had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 9, 2024, and was released theatrically in the United States by

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

on December 6, 2024. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $4.5 million.

Plot

In 1999, best friends Eli and Danny discuss plans for

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

while their parents are out. Eli has a crush on his classmate Laura, but is too nervous to talk to her despite Danny's encouragement to kiss her at midnight. They watch as Laura and her friends Trevor, Madison, and Raleigh steal some alcohol and decide to crash a party held by Soccer Chris, who is also interested in Laura. While partying, Eli watches in dismay as Chris and Laura kiss at midnight until the power suddenly goes out. As a student is found dead with a piece of a fan lodged in his head, a

toy car A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally a ...

arrives on its own and burns Trevor's face with a hairspray and a lighter, killing him. The terrified partygoers realize that all technology have become sentient and attempt to leave, but many of them are gruesomely killed. In the ensuing chaos, a VCR smashes Madison's head with a VHS tape, Chris' head is melted by a microwave, and a

Tamagotchi is a brand of handheld digital pets that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and in the United States on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the bigge ...

drills through Raleigh's head. Eli, Danny, and Laura escape with juvenile delinquents Farkas, CJ, and Ash, but Danny is fatally impaled by a blade and Farkas dies when he hits the ground while attempting to be cool on his skates. The group go to an old mill without electricity, while the sentient machines kill several residents throughout the town. They also find VHS store clerk Garrett and Laura's ex-boyfriend Jonas, and learn the threat is a collective consciousness of all electronic devices worldwide planning to enslave humanity. Laura successfully creates a kill code to shut down the algorithm, now dubbing itself the "Amalgamation", but a computer attacks her. Eli douses it in water, shutting it down. The group is then cornered by the Amalgamation, who is using electronics to make itself bigger. Garrett tries to fend it off, but is decapitated. The group hide in a

portable toilet A portable or mobile toilet (colloquial terms: thunderbox, porta-john, porta-potty or porta-loo) is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require ...

and ride it down a hill. They take refuge in the VHS store and meet musician

, whom they encourage to join. The group arrives at the local high school where, they learn, the machines are due to a new Internet connection installed. They sneak inside and discover the townspeople have been reduced to mindless slaves by brain-implanted chips. CJ sacrifices himself to save Fred from a machine while the group learn the Amalgamation has now grown to a monstrous size and is forcing people inside it, converting them to the aforementioned slaves. Fred, Ash, and Jonas distract the machines guarding the townspeople to let Laura make her way into the Amalgamation, but it electrocutes her. Eli arrives in time to save Laura and attempt to insert the kill code himself, but fails to do so as the Amalgamation keeps electrocuting and taunting them. Eli then uses a condom Danny had given him earlier and wraps it around Laura's hand like a protective glove. While Fred, Ash, and Jonas continue distracting the machines, Eli and Laura successfully insert the kill code, shutting down the algorithm worldwide, destroying the Amalgamation. Eli shares a kiss with Laura and they reunite with the surviving townspeople as dawn breaks. Five years later, in 2005, a now college-aged Eli, Laura, and Ash visit their friends' graves. As they leave the cemetery, Ash's new

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

starts to glitch, revealing that the algorithm has not been fully destroyed.

Cast

Production

It was announced in early March 2023 that

would direct ''Y2K'' for

, Julian Dennison,

, Lachlan Watson, Mason Gooding,

, Eduardo Franco,

Miles Robbins Miles Guthrie Tomalin Robbins (born May 4, 1992) is an American actor. Personal life Miles Guthrie Tomalin Robbins was born on May 4, 1992, in New York City. He is a son of the actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. His half-sister is the a ...

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further pro ...

Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. As an actor, Heidecker's filmography includes roles in ' ...

, and Daniel Zolghadri joined the cast. Additionally, Weta Workshop worked on the effects for the film. In April 2023,

Sebastian Chacon Sebastian Chacon (born June 18, 1993) is an American actor, best known for his role as Warren in Prime Video series '' Daisy Jones & The Six'' Early life and education Chacon was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. His father is Colombian ...

and Lauren Balone joined the cast.

Jenna Ortega Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child and received recognition for her role as a younger version of Jane Villanueva, Jane in The CW comedy-drama series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014� ...

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American accents, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous ...

, and

Fred Hechinger Fred Hechinger (; born on December 2, 1999) is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in such films as the coming-of-age film '' Eighth Grade'' (2018), the period drama ''News of the World'' (2020), and the psychological t ...

were also considered for the film.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in April 2023 in

Ringwood, New Jersey Ringwood is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,735, a decrease of 493 (−4.0%) from the 2010 census count of 12,228, which in turn reflected a d ...

. The following month, filming continued in Ringwood and Chatham Borough and in

Clark Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

at the

recreation center A leisure centre, sports centre, or recreation centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. Typical facilit ...

, before wrapping.

Music

The soundtrack for ''Y2K'' comprises a number of songs from the 1990s; the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

was released on CD on January 17, 2025.

Release

''Y2K'' had its world premiere at

on March 9, 2024. It was released theatrically in the United States by

on December 6, 2024.

Home media

The film was released

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

on December 24, 2024.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, ''Y2K'' was released alongside ''

Werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

'' and '' Pushpa 2: The Rule'', and was projected to gross $3–5 million from 2,108 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $923,110 on its first day, including $300,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $2.1 million, finishing in eighth.

Critical response

Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "C–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

gave it a 65% overall positive score, with 50% saying they would definitely recommend it. Clint Worthington of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, unfavorably comparing it to ''

Brigsby Bear ''Brigsby Bear'' is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Dave McCary in his feature directorial debut, written by Kevin Costello and Kyle Mooney, and starring Mooney, Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear, Andy Samberg, Matt Walsh ...

'' and concluding, "''Y2K'' doesn't want to break stuff; it wants to dig it out of the trash and pine nostalgically for it. That's just not as interesting." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

wrote, "''Y2K'' turns out to be an attack-of-the-machines movie. Yet it's still very much a period-piece high-school comedy. So how well do the two go together? In my book, not very well... the last hour of it, the cheeky dystopian alien-tech horror farce, simply isn't very good." Adrian Horton of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the film three out of five stars, calling it "a promising if wildly uneven debut that banks heavily, often successfully, on Mooney's penchant for late 90s nostalgia." ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

'' Meagan Navarro gave it a score of four out of five, writing, "While some of its meaner horror impulses get largely forgotten by the end, it's tough to mind at all thanks to the nonstop, playful tone, killer soundtrack, wacky murder bots, and talent in front of and behind the camera that ensure a party worth rewinding the clock for."

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, 2020s, Film, United States, Speculative fiction, Comedy, 1990s, 2000s 2024 comedy horror films 2024 films 2024 directorial debut films 2024 independent films 2024 science fiction horror films 2020s American films 2020s disaster films 2020s English-language films 2020s high school films 2020s science fiction comedy films 2020s teen comedy films 2020s teen horror films A24 (company) films American alternate history films American comedy horror films American disaster films American high school films American independent films American robot films American science fiction comedy films American science fiction horror films American teen comedy films American teen horror films Apocalyptic films English-language comedy horror films English-language independent films English-language science fiction comedy films English-language science fiction horror films Fiction featuring the turn of the third millennium Films about artificial intelligence Films about computing Films about parties Films about slavery Films produced by Christopher Storer Films produced by Jonah Hill Films set around New Year Films set in 1999 Films set in 2000 Films set in 2005 Films shot in New Jersey Holiday horror films Techno-horror films Teen science fiction films