Y2K

There are still a few 2024 movies left for me to see, but I doubt any will come close to stealing Y2K’s spot as the worst of the year. Meant to be a comedy-horror, it’s neither funny nor scary. Instead, it feels like a freshman student film where everyone is still learning the basics. The ideas are childish, the characters are beyond annoying, and the constant late ’90s nostalgia is as lazy as it gets. 90 minutes have never felt so long.

The movie is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, where a group of high school juniors crashes a party, only for the Y2K bug to trigger a technological apocalypse that turns electronics against humanity. Honestly, it’s not a terrible concept. Most people watching probably remember the Y2K panic, and with Jonah Hill producing and appearances from Alicia Silverstone and Fred Durst, you’d think they could pull off something fun. But the execution couldn’t be worst.

The movie starts off somewhat fine, tolerable, at best. However, early warning signs emerge with awkwardly framed dialogue that feels stilted and unnatural. Once the chaos kicks off at the party, everything falls apart. What should have been the film’s fun, suspenseful centerpiece is over before it even begins. The ‘shocking deaths’ are either confusing or utterly dull, made worse by a complete lack of spatial awareness, leaving you constantly wondering what’s happening and where anyone is. For a movie featuring a killing spree, there’s not a single creative or memorable death, and the suspense is nowhere to be found.

On top of that, you’re stuck spending 90 minutes with the most irritating characters of the year. Jaeden Martell, who started his career strong as a child actor, seems frozen in time, delivering the same performance he’s been recycling for over a decade. And Rachel Zegler, who already grates in interviews, takes it up a notch here with exaggerated expressions in every single scene. It’s bad when you start rooting for the protagonists to die just to get some relief.

The visuals don’t help either. The film tries to lean into the late ’90s aesthetic, but the result is an ugly mishmash that turns any potential nostalgia into full-on disdain for the era. If you think it couldn’t get worse, the climax serves up a moment so laughably cliché it’s hard to believe it wasn’t done as a joke. A character hesitates, another chimes in with a “You can do it!” pep talk that lasts 15 seconds, and they suddenly find the courage to save the day. Barely an inconvenience!

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the 2000s, just revisit your old playlist or dig out some vintage tech, anything would be more fun than sitting through this wreck. Honestly, you’d probably have a better time doing literally anything else than watching Y2K.

At a glance

0.5/5

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Where to watch

CravePrime Video

Trailer

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