Imagine this: it’s the year 1999, and it’s New Year’s Eve, the night before the turn of a new millennium — only this transition to a new millennium may potentially cause a widespread computer error and unleash a homicidal algorithm that is dead-set on enslaving humanity.
Blending late- ‘90s nostalgia and humor with the gory aspects of a robot apocalypse, A24’s “Y2K” is an electrifying rollercoaster of emotions. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself seriously; yet, amid its eccentric comedy, it also has its solemn and sincere moments.
The dial-up disaster comedy follows high school juniors Eli and Danny, played by Jaeden Martell and Julian Dennison, as they crash a New Year’s Eve party in search of romance and a label other than “outcast.” However, the new year rings in with a horrifying reality: the “millennium bug” is real, and it’s ready to bring forth an apocalypse.
First shown at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2024, “Y2K” released in theaters on Dec. 6. Kyle Mooney — known for his role in nine seasons of “Saturday Night Live” — made his feature directorial debut with the film, co-written with writer-producer Evan Winter.
Mooney and Winter reminisced on the initial conceptualization of the film in a round table interview with The Mass Media.
Inspiration fittingly struck one New Year’s Day six years ago when Mooney was waking up from a hangover. He immediately sought out Winter, who was also hungover but entirely onboard with the bizarre idea.
“I was thinking about Y2K and was like, ‘Oh, there should be a movie about this.’” Mooney said. “Y2K actually happens with some sort of machine monster, or something of that effect.”
Mooney explained how his fascination with the Y2K phenomenon stemmed from the disappointment of the actual moment. “It was this thing that was promised to be a massive event, and then nothing happened,” he said. “For those of us who lived through that, it’s hard not to carry it on a little bit in the back of your mind as like, ‘What was that?’”
As the concept of the film began to solidify, writing the script became a very collaborative process between Mooney and Winter. For a year, they would write pages of the script and send them to the other to revise and look over. When Mooney was on break from SNL and in town, they would get together in-person to work on the script.
Winter reflected on being able to share the creative decisions for the film with a partner. “When you’re alone making all these decisions yourself and you don’t have that sounding board, even if you’re confident, there’s always gonna be moments you’re second guessing yourself,” he said. “Having another perspective, someone being able to think of something that you didn’t, can spark what the eventual final idea will be.”
Shared creative decisions didn’t come without its challenges. “You have this partner and you have someone that you trust, but we’re also individuals, too. We’re going to have different ideas of what we want,” Mooney acknowledged. “There are challenges that are easily overcomeable, but there’s conversations like, ‘I think this would be the move here.’”
With the premise of the film surrounding the transition between 1999 to 2000, “Y2K” needed to be steeped in the specific time period that it was based upon. For Mooney and Winter, emulating the Y2K era was an opportunity to relive their middle school and high school years, immersing themselves in the references and culture familiar to them.
“We went through yearbooks of the era. YouTube has a pretty good collection of ‘99, 2000 video yearbooks, too, so you can just scroll through some random high schools’ end-of-the-year videos and see all the styles,” Mooney said.
He added that, “It felt like this era has not been fully represented on screen to what I feel like we lived, so it was really exciting.”
Winter noted how previous eras often become characterized by certain elements, such as fashion and music, that become popularized by the current generations.
“When we were teenagers, the ‘70s and the ‘80s were the ‘cool retro eras’ that we didn’t live through,” Winter said. “It’s interesting how, for that generation who didn’t live through it, it gets distilled in a way. There’s a lot of truth to the things that people look back on, like, ‘Oh, this defines the era,’ but there’s so much more. There’s a lot of nuance, and there’s other things that don’t make it to that next generation.”
Aside from replicating the aesthetics of Y2K on screen, the soundtrack of “Y2K” is also composed of popular songs from the ‘90s, which aptly set the tone for the film’s various comedic or action-packed scenes. Among the tracks are Mooney and Winter’s personal favorites, Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” and Brian McKnight’s “Back at One.”
“[‘Praise You’] kicks off the movie in a way that, the song and the sequence of Eli biking through town, sets you in that period and feels like a movie from that era,” Winter said.
Meanwhile, “Back at One” plays during a romantically-humorous scene with Eli and his love interest, popular girl and computer genius Laura, played by Rachel Zegler. Though they’re sliding down a hill in a porta potty and drenched in brown sludge, the addition of the song beautifully paints a foundation for a future relationship that doesn’t feel too unfeasible.
With the release of “Y2K,” Mooney and Winter’s hopes are that anyone can enjoy it, including those that didn’t grow up during the particular era.
“To make something, you have to have a personal connection to it for it to really feel like it has weight, and so we definitely made it for ourselves with things that are funny and charming to us,” Winter said. “I think, also, we felt really fortunate and stoked that the younger generation is very into this time period right now.”
Mooney shared the same sentiment. “I think there’s something really exciting about younger folks getting to live and have a glimpse into our experience,” he said.
“Y2K” is available to rent or purchase now on digital platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.
