Y2K (2024)

Movie · 2024 · Science Fiction, Horror, Comedy · 1h 31m · R · English

Curator score: 0.7/10 (235.8K ratings)

New Years Eve, 1999. The last party before...

Overview

Two high school nobodies make the decision to crash the last major celebration before the new millennium on New Year's Eve 1999. The night becomes even crazier than they could have ever dreamed when the clock strikes midnight.

Ratings

Director

Kyle Mooney

Production

A24, Strong Baby Productions, American Light & Fixture

Cast

Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, Daniel Zolghadri, Lachlan Watson, Fred Durst, Kyle Mooney, Eduardo Franco, Mason Gooding, The Kid LAROI, Lauren Balone, Alicia Silverstone, Tim Heidecker, Maureen Sebastian, Miles Robbins, Ellie Ricker, Ellie Ricker, Daniel Dale, Luca R Stagnitta, Anzi DiBenedetto

Where to watch

Max

Curator Review

Verdict

A loud, knowingly stupid Y2K panic comedy that gets by on premise, cameos, and late-90s nostalgia more than on airtight plotting. If you enjoy broad genre mashups, cringe humor, and a movie that treats millennial-era pop culture like a punchline machine, it can be a good time; if you want sharper satire or stronger storytelling, it may feel thin.

Best for

  • viewers who like absurdist teen comedies
  • fans of late-90s nostalgia and throwback references
  • audiences open to horror-comedy chaos
  • people who enjoy cameo-driven crowd-pleasers

Skip if

  • you want a tightly structured screenplay
  • you dislike reference-heavy nostalgia comedy
  • you prefer horror with real tension over goofiness
  • you are impatient with broad, juvenile humor

Overview

Y2K is built like a time capsule smashed with a sledgehammer: teen awkwardness, millennial nostalgia, and apocalyptic silliness all colliding at once. The movie’s main appeal is its energy and its willingness to go all-in on the joke, even when the joke is louder than the story. It plays like a party movie for people who remember dial-up, mall culture, and the panic around the millennium bug, but it’s not especially interested in restraint or emotional depth.

Worth noting

The cast helps keep it watchable, especially when the film leans into outsider romance and deadpan embarrassment instead of just piling on references. The humor is hit-or-miss, but when it lands, it lands as a very specific kind of generational recognition: the feeling of being trapped in a period you thought was cool at the time and now find ridiculous. That self-awareness gives the movie some charm even when the plotting feels loose.

Bottom line

As a horror-comedy, it’s more chaotic than scary and more nostalgic than incisive. The best way to approach it is as a disposable but spirited genre toy: not a great satire, not a great horror film, but occasionally a very funny one. If you’re in the mood for a messy, reference-saturated throwback with a few genuine laughs, it can absolutely work.

Top Letterboxd reviews

Framesofnick (3★) · 7127 likes

Unrealistic, she put the USB in correctly the first time

cordelia🪽 (4★) · 6380 likes

Danny did for “The Thong Song” what Will Schuester from Glee WISHES he could do

Miranda (4★) · 5346 likes

sequel coming September 2001

Joe A (3★) · 4512 likes

It’s so focused on referencing everything from the 90s that it actively sacrifices its storytelling for the joke. Fortunately, I love the 90s, so it worked on me a lot of the time.

Gambinosburner (3★) · 4130 likes

I damn near exploded out of my seat when Fred Durst appeared on screen now I fully understand how marvel fans feel when some random ass character pops up out of nowhere

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Topics

horror-comedy, teen ensemble, nostalgia trip, millennium panic, apocalyptic satire, coming-of-age, cringe comedy, pop culture references, late-90s, genre mashup

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