Within the past month, Netflix has rolled out and removed several original movies and tv shows, but one that stands out among the rest is “Don’t Look Up.”

With a star-studded cast featuring names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, and Meryl Streep, it’s no wonder “Don’t Look Up” garnered over 150 million viewing hours in a single week breaking the record for most viewing hours in a single week. The film has amassed the third most viewing hours for a film within 28 days of its release. 

While most of the film is lighthearted and funny, it’s still important to remember what this movie truly is. “Don’t Look Up” isn’t just another funny movie, it’s a racy rated-R political commentary in the form of satire. It addresses the blatant denial of facts and science, the way that news outlets downplay important events, and the willingness of people to follow the influence of famous faces.

The plot for “Don’t Look Up” revolves around a planet-destroying comet. The crew behind the film has said that the comet is a metaphor for the climate crisis, but it can also apply to new issues like COVID-19. Throughout the movie, scientists try to warn the people of Earth of their impending doom. Some listen, but some reject the facts and instead listen to the lies of politicians, celebrities, and billionaires. The message these “important” people propagate is “Don’t look up.” Within American society, a noticeable rift forms. Two groups are created, Don’t Look Up and Just Look Up. These two groups could refer to the American political system. There are two groups that always try to undermine each other with no regard for the consequences. In the end, Don’t Look Up prevails and science loses. The people of Earth are left to face a world-ending catastrophe with no help from the people they so closely tried to follow and no hope of surviving a cataclysmic event that could have very easily been avoided.

It all comes back to the central message of the movie. If you just look around, you’ll see we’re all in danger, and only we can save the world.

The film is a must-watch for everyone whether they’re political or not. It truly is a funny movie, and if watched with the right mindset, it can be used to bring light to modern problems like willful ignorance.