“Death to 2020,” a British mockumentary from the creators of “Black Mirror,” revisits every monumental event that happened over the past year in an attempt to put it at rest as the title suggests. Despite having left much to be desired, the film’s quirky tone and lack of solemnity provides for some casual viewing if that’s what 2020 should amount to in history books in some way.
In the 70-minute Netflix original, Samuel Jackson and several other B-list celebrities are cast as an assorted troupe of false leading experts and exaggerated everyday people who recount the trauma-inducing year 2020.
It was a year filled with riots, political turmoil and death all wrapped in a pandemic, and this movie forces us to relive every minute all over again.
Jackson plays Dash Bracket, a fictional reporter from the “New Yorkerly News,” who retells every drastic event that took place in 2020. As Bracket recites each event from a more knowledgeable standpoint as a fictional reporter, he is joined by a politician, a psychologist, a scientist, the Queen of England and average Americans as they share their own experiences and opinions. Each character acts as an over-the-top representation of zany characters we familiarized ourselves with last year.
Kathy Flowers, played by Cristin Milioti, is a white suburban mother with racist tendencies who loves reading conspiracy theories about the government on Facebook. Flowers is a representation of what the internet loves to call a “Karen” — a slang insult towards women who use their white privilege to assure their demands are met. We see a variety of these types of personalities that made more than enough appearances in 2020, so it’s only reasonable for the film to parody them along with everything else.
These colorful, exaggerated characters allow for distinct points of view on several aspects of 2020: the medical aspect of COVID-19, the political perspective during the U.S. presidential election and the way young adults had access to every single tragedy through social media in an instant. We even see how the upper class suffered (or lack thereof) through Kumail Nanjiani’s character of a tech mogul.
However, audiences don’t need a reminder of just how much trauma 2020 produced, much less the need for satirical commentary. After a year of immeasurable loss, heartache and frustration, many of the jokes and comedic attempts in the film fell flat and didn’t resonate. The only point in the movie that demonstrated any sort of sensitivity was when the characters reflected on the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Bracket and Dr. Maggie Gravel (played by Leslie Jones) spoke on the topic with honesty and conviction influenced by the actor’s own experiences, not their characters. It was in this brief moment that the film stopped being a juvenile parody and became a real account of one of 2020’s most shocking moments. Not only did the film revisit the murder of George Floyd, but every Black life taken by police brutality. It seemed unscripted to the point of raw emotion.
Alas, even this tender moment was cut short when the film decided to lighten the mood by making an example of Flowers by showing multiple scenarios of her harassing and threatening to call law enforcement on Black people she deems suspicious, despite them performing normal day-to-day activities.
The rest of the film follows this pattern, showing real footage of a travesty that angers or saddens the viewer, only to cut the sentiment with a cheap quip. These low-grade jokes are mere quick jabs at politicians, name-calling and cursing humans as simple-minded creatures.
If you’ve run out of things to watch on Netflix and this title is still lingering in your list, this movie is easy enough to watch — you can play it in the background as you wash the dishes. It carries a light tone overall and provides an occasional chortle.
Steer clear, though, of any expectation of achieving mental clarity, reflection or coming to the peace with the year-that-must-not-be-named.
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In short, it’s too soon to look back and laugh at 2020.
Ana Gutierrez is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @anaixchel_
