Y2K (2024 film)

Y2K
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kyle Mooney
Written by	Kyle Mooney Evan Winter
Produced by	Jonah Hill Matt Dines Allison Goodwin Christopher Storer Cooper Wehde Evan Winter
Starring	Jaeden Martell Rachel Zegler Julian Dennison Lachlan Watson Mason Gooding Fred Durst Alicia Silverstone
Cinematography	Bill Pope
Edited by	David Marks
Music by	Danny Bensi Saunder Jurriaans
Production companies	A24 Strong Baby Productions American Light & Fixture
Distributed by	A24
Release dates	March 9, 2024 (2024-03-09) (SXSW) December 6, 2024 (2024-12-06) (United States)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$3.8 million

Y2K is a 2024 American disaster comedy horror film directed by Kyle Mooney in his directorial debut, written by Mooney and Evan Winter. It stars Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, Fred Durst, and Alicia Silverstone. It follows a group of high school students who attempt to survive when the year 2000 problem causes all technology worldwide to come to life and turn against humanity.

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024, and was theatrically released by A24 in the United States on December 6, 2024. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $3.8 million.

Plot

In 1999, best friends Eli, Danny, and Garrett discuss plans for New Year's Eve while their parents are out. Eli has a crush on his classmate Laura, but is too nervous to talk to her despite Danny's encouragment to kiss her at midnight. They watch as Laura and her friends Trevor, Madison, and Raleigh sneak out some alcohol and decide to crash a party held by Soccer Chris, Laura's boyfriend.

While partying, Eli watches in dismay as Chris and Laura kiss at midnight. The power goes out and a student is found dead with a piece of a fan lodged in his head. Suddenly, a toy car arrives on its own and burns Trevor's face, killing him. The terrified partygoers realize that all technology have become sentient and attempt to leave, but many of them are gruesomely killed. In the ensuing chaos, a VCR drills Madison's head with a VHS tape, Chris' head is melted by a microwave, and a Tamagotchi kills Raleigh.

Eli, Danny, and Laura escape with juvenile delinquents Farkas, CJ, and Ash, but Danny is fatally impaled by a blade and Farkas dies when he hits the ground while attempting to rail a broken pole on his skates. The group go to an old mill without electricity while the sentient machines kill several residents throughout the town. They also find Garrett and Laura's ex-boyfriend Jonas, and learn the threat is a collective consciousness of all electronic devices worldwide planning to enslave humanity.

Laura successfully creates a kill code to shut down the algorithm, now dubbed itself as the "Amalgamation", but a computer attacks her. Jonas douses it in water, shutting it down. The group is then cornered by the Amalgamation, who is using electronics to make itself bigger. Garrett tries to fend it off, but is decapitated. The group hide in portable toilets and ride the Amalgamation down a hill. They take refuge in a VHS store and meet musician Fred Durst, whom they encourage to join.

The group arrive at the local high school, where they learn the machines are there due to a new internet connection installed. They sneak inside and discover the townspeople have been reduced to mindless slaves by brain-implanted chips. CJ sacrifices himself to save Fred from a machine while the group learn the Amalgamation has now grown to a monstruous size. Fred, Ash, and Jonas distract the machines guarding the townspeople to let Laura make her way into the Amalgamation, but it electrocutes her.

Eli arrives in time to save Laura and insert the kill code, but it has no use as the Amalgamation keeps mocking and electrocuting them. Eli then uses a condom Danny had given him earlier and wraps it around Laura's hand like a protective glove. While Fred, Ash, and Jonas continue distracting the machines, Eli and Laura successfully insert the kill code, shutting down the algorithm worldwide, and destroying the Amalgamation. Eli shares a kiss with Laura and they reunite with the surviving townspeople as dawn breaks.

Five years later, in 2005, a now college-aged Eli, Laura, and Ash visit their friends' graves. While they leave the cemetery, Ash's new iPod starts to glitch, revealing that the algorithm has not been fully destroyed.

Cast

• Jaeden Martell as Eli
• Rachel Zegler as Laura
• Julian Dennison as Danny
• Daniel Zolghadri as CJ
• Lachlan Watson as Ash
• Eduardo Franco as Farkas
• Fred Durst as himself
• Kyle Mooney as Garrett
• Mason Gooding as Jonas
• The Kid Laroi as Soccer Chris
• Miles Robbins as Nugz
• Alicia Silverstone as Robin
• Tim Heidecker as Howard
• Jacob Moskovitz as Trevor
• Lauren Balone as Raleigh
• Ellie Ricker as Madison
• Kevin Mangold as Cool Blue

Production

It was announced in early March 2023 that Kyle Mooney would direct Y2K for A24. Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Rachel Zegler, Lachlan Watson, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi, Eduardo Franco, Miles Robbins, Fred Hechinger, Alicia Silverstone, Tim Heidecker and Daniel Zolghadri joined the cast. Additionally, Weta Workshop worked on the effects for the film. In April 2023, Sebastian Chacon and Lauren Balone joined the cast.

Principal photography began in April 2023 in Ringwood, New Jersey. The following month, filming continued in Ringwood and Chatham Borough and in Clark at the recreation center, before wrapping.

Music

Y2K
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17)
Label	A24 Music

The soundtrack for Y2K comprises a number of songs from the 1990s; the soundtrack album is scheduled to be released on CD on January 17, 2025.

Y2K soundtrack track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Praise You"	Camille D. Yarbrough Norman Cook	Fatboy Slim
2.	"Tubthumping"	Alice Nutter Allan Whalley Darren Hamer Dunstan Bruce Judith Abbott Louise Watts Nigel Hunter Paul Greco	Rachel Zegler, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, and Jaeden Martell
3.	"Candy"	Denise Rich Denny V Dave Katz	Mandy Moore
4.	"9 PM (Till I Come)" (radio edit)	André Tanneberger Yolanda Rivera Garrido Dennis Ferrer Julio Posadas Gilabert	ATB
5.	"Thong Song"	Desmond Child Mark Althavan Andrews Marquis Collins Tim Kelley Joseph Paul Longo Bob Robinson Robi Rosa	Julian Dennison
6.	"Break Stuff"	William Frederick Durst Leor Dimant Wesley Louden Borland John Everett Otto Sam Rivers Brendan O'Brien	Limp Bizkit
7.	"93 'til Infinity"	Billy Cobham Adam Carter Opio Lindsey Tajai Massey Damani Thompson	Souls of Mischief
8.	"Freak on a Leash"	Jonathan Davis Reginald Arvizu Brian Welch David Silveria James Shaffer	Korn
9.	"6 Underground"	Liam Howe Ian Pickering Chris Corner John Barry	Sneaker Pimps
10.	"Back at One"	Brian McKnight	Brian McKnight
11.	"Faith"	George Michael	Fred Durst
12.	"Ash and CJ Swings Freestyle"		Lachlan Watson and Daniel Zolghadri
13.	"Closing Time"	Dan Wilson	Semisonic

Release

It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2024. It was released on December 6, 2024.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Y2K was released alongside Werewolves and Pushpa 2: The Rule, and was projected to gross $3–5 million from 2,108 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $923,110 on its first day, including $300,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $2.1 million, finishing in eighth.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 82 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Y2K earns points for ambition and sheer audacity, even if it struggles to keep the laughs coming while maintaining a messy tonal blend." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 65% overall positive score, with 50% saying they would definitely recommend it.

External links

• Y2K at IMDb