The film opens at a space station where PHD candidate Kate Dibiasky
spots what looks like a comet hurtling towards Earth
She calls in her colleagues to celebrate, including her mentor, Professor Randall Mindy
However, the two soon notice
that the comet is far more dangerous than they had anticipated based off the readings,
that they are picking up
Randall and Kate get in touch with several official figures, including Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe
to get the word out that the comet is a “planet killer”
and in six months time, it will effectively destroy all life on the planet
They attempt to secure a meeting with President, Janie Orlean
though the stress of it makes Kate vomit, and resort to getting high to cope with her stress
After an unsuccessful night of waiting for Janie’s time to free up
Randall, Kate, and Teddy have to wait until the next day to break
the news to Janie and her Chief-in-Staff son Jason
Despite Randall and Kate playing up the major imminent threat
Janie and Jason don’t seem to care much for it and don’t think of it as a legitimate threat,
since their statistics are not at 100% certainty
Because of this, they will not play up the threat of the comet
which Randall has dubbed “Comet Dibiasky” since Kate first noticed it,
and don’t view it as a big deal
Kate is seen communicating with her boyfriend Phillip with whom
she has somewhat of a strained relationship
since she doesn’t want to spend time with his mother, while Randall is married to June,
and they have two adult sons who live at home
In Silicon Valley, there is a presentation by big tech company Bash
with CEO Peter Isherwell, is unveiling the newest update to his company, Liif
which detects how people are feeling and works to appeal to
them as it works in the favor of the company so they can sell their stuff
Peter is also shown to be a callous jerk
Randall and Kate manage to score an interview, with major television personalities
Brie Evantee and Jack Bremmer
Before they go on to break the comet story
pop star Riley Bina is up to talk,
about her highly publicized breakup with fellow musician DJ Cello
The two have a live chat where they reconcile, and Riley accepts Cello’s marriage proposal
Afterward, Randall and Kate go on air, with Randall managing to maintain his composure
but Kate loses her cool due to Brie
and Jack’s nonchalance at the situation, and Kate loudly declares to the viewers
that they will all, “fucking die”
Following the disastrous interview
Kate becomes a meme due to her doomsday cries bumming people out,
while Randall becomes popular, because of his looks
The two return home
FBI agents soon arrest Randall and Kate
bring them to the White House to meet with Janie
After she has been caught in some kind of scandal
it becomes clear that she wants to use the comet to divert attention away from,
that issue onto this one
She agrees to go through with a mission
where decorated war hero Benedict Drask will head a team outside of Earth’s atmosphere,
to nuke the comet
As word of the comet’s impact and the big mission comes out,
Randall begins an affair with Brie since he becomes a recurring guest on the show
The nation watches as Benedict and his team are launched into space in the face of the comet
While in the briefing room, where Janie meets with Randall Kate Brie Teddy and other officials
Peter calls Janie out to tell her something
Moments later, Benedict and his team appear to be retreating from space,
and begin pulling back toward Earth, effectively aborting the mission
Randall and Kate later meet with Janie and her staff,
since Peter had determined based on his readings
that the comet can provide a great source of wealth and material for
the big companies like his own to fuel their products and services
so they are willing to let the comet strike, in order to profit from it
Randall and Kate are both mortified
but Randall becomes sucked into the media circus,
and becomes a puppet for Bash and the other pro-comet businesses
that believe they can profit from the comet
Soon, several factions across the country start to swing in favor of the comet
because they think it can provide jobs for the needy,
while those arguing to stop the comet are seen as the bad guys
Even Kate’s parents, don’t want to deal with her, because they are pro-comet
Randall continues working with, the Orlean administration
as well as his affair with Brie, while Kate takes a job at a supermarket
and later hooks up with an anti government activist, named Yule
June later confronts, Randall and Brie for their
affair and throws all of his numerous medications at him
After Randall sees that Peter is trying to use Bash drones to mine the comet,
he starts to have a change of heart
It culminates with him having a full-on meltdown on Brie and Jack’s show
criticizing the Orlean administration, as well as the public’s whole reaction to the ordeal
He gets a bag on his head, like Kate did, when she was apprehended by the FBI
and Brie, breaks things off with Randall
Soon, the comet starts to come into Earth’s atmosphere
Kate reconciles with Randall and rejoins him, along with Yule
Once the rest of the planet becomes aware of the comet
stupid internet trends, like the “Launch Challenge” become viral
while people on both sides of the political spectrum, attempt to capitalize on the frenzy
A movie starring actor, Devin Peters also goes into development
Janie and her administration go against Randall’s,
warnings about “Don’t Look Up” , and host a concert with Riley
and Cello performing a ballad called “Just Look Up”
While Randall and Kate attempt to gather help from other nations
Janie and her staff pull funding from countries like India, Russia, and China
so, that they can go ahead and continue their mining mission
With little time left, and with zero chance of fighting things
Randall gathers with his family, as well as Kate,
Teddy, and Yule to share a final meal together with good company
The drones sent to mine the comet begin to falter or get destroyed,
and both Janie and Peter realize their efforts are futile
Janie calls Randall and tells him that there is room for him and a guest on a shuttle,
where all the rich folks are gathering
to avoid the impact of the comet in cryopods
Randall declines and chooses to stay with his loved ones, although it becomes evident
that Janie forgot Jason and is leaving him to his doom
The comet soon clears Earth’s atmosphere and hurdles toward the ground
Randall and the others reflect on just how much they had in life
before the impact of the comet catches up to them
and all of Earth is destroyed
More than 22,000 years later, the survivors in the pods
arrive nude at a different Earth-like planet
which is inhabited by mutant creatures
and one of which
begins to eat Janie