24. Review of Death to 2020 (Dir. Al Campbell, 2020)

 I would put a spoiler warning for this film but there's really no need to; we all lived through it.

Death To 2020 is a documentary/mockumentary covering the shambles of a year which was 2020. I enjoy a good documentary as much as I love a mockumentary, so this film was right up my street. Featuring multiple famous faces, including Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow and Joe Keery to name a few, the film tells the story of the past year through "interviews" and news clips, making commentary on all things political, pandemical and social.

There were so many events covered which I myself had forgotten took place in 2020, so the film served as a sort of revision session - I would definitely put this film on a future history class syllabus. 

Of course, key events which were discussed extensively included the COVID-19 virus, the BLM protests, and the presidential election.

With the coverage of COVID, the film highlights how many large companies and businesses, such as clothing brands, jumped to the chance to exploit current and potential customers who were now stuck indoors with nothing to do. It also highlighted how extremely rich people, and even individuals in governmental positions who can afford to help out with world issues are more than willing to sit back and allow those less fortunate than them deal with the situation. This extends not only to the pandemic but also to other issues, such as wild fires, poverty and climate change.

With the BLM protest coverage, the film did a great job of presenting the ways in which black people and people of colour experience racism and prejudice, and the ways in which white people can be extremely ignorant of the behaviours they exhibit which cause harm. There were also a few satirical interviews mixed within this, one of which presenting the character of a "Karen", which I found quite effectively summed up how some people will talk about love and equality, and then in the next sentence call the police on a person of colour for standing near them in a queue.

Now, the segment discussing the presidential election and the whole mess which is America was very entertaining indeed, and I enjoyed the comparison of watching American news to watching a television show which is gradually going off of the rails and losing believability. Of course, I do not live in America, but as an outsider I agreed completely with this. Even this year, the people and government in America proceed to do things which I would find hard to believe if not covered on the news.

This film made me realise how 2020 was (hopefully) a learning opportunity for everyone, and it especially made me realise how there is always room to learn more and educate yourself further on world issues.

I think this is a good recap of the year, however if you're not feeling up to being dragged back through that nightmare of a year we had, then I wouldn't blame you for giving it a miss.

~ Paige Nicole