BOSTON – A quarter-century later, the Y2K scare seems … quaint.
But on New Year’s Eve, 1999, some people were in a panic. Would computers malfunction and shut down once the clock struck midnight? Would the world fall into chaos?
It turned out to be much ado about nothing.
But what if it hadn’t? What if things turned out much, much worse than anyone imagined?
That’s the idea behind “Y2K,” the deranged new horror comedy directed by former “Saturday Night Live” regular Kyle Mooney and written by Mooney and Evan Winter. The film involves two teen pals, Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison), who crash a party, only to see things turn bloody at midnight as technology goes rogue.
Kyle Mooney, right, and Evan Winter stand next to a poster for their new film, “Y2K.” Mooney, a former “Saturday Night Live” regular, makes his directorial debut with the film and plays a supporting role in it. He and Winter wrote the screenplay. (Rachel Stankus/Allied Global Marketing)
Stationed at a table at Kings Dining and Entertainment in Boston’s Back Bay, Mooney, whose father grew up in Falmouth and attended Falmouth High, and Winter recall what they were doing on Dec. 31, 1999.
Mooney, raised in San Diego, was 15.
“I stayed at my home and hung out with my friend Mark, and we watched the MTV New Year’s special,” he says. “I watched all of those between probably 1978 and 2001. They all sort of meld together. Kathy Griffin was a co-host, I think.”
“With Carson Daly and others,” Winter adds, noting it also included an “infamous” Green Day performance.
“I think I was 13,” Winters continues, “and it was my last New Year’s staying at home before going out and hanging out with friends. I also watched MTV New Year’s Eve. … Just had an evening in and remember thinking, ‘Well they say some crazy stuff could happen, but I’m just a kid, and I’m sure the adults will figure it out.’”
“I kind of think of it now as the reverse COVID-19,” Mooney says. “We were so scared of it, what would happen, and people were at the grocery store picking up jugs of water and survival kits, and then nothing happened. Whereas (with) the pandemic, a lot of us thought it was no big deal.”
Twenty years after the Y2K scare, Mooney, recovering from another New Year’s Eve, woke up to a text from his friend Winter.
“Hungover and bleary-eyed,” Mooney says, he read the message that went something like: “Have an idea. … Teen house party movie, New Year’s Eve, 1999, and then Y2K actually happens.”
“Well, that’s a good idea,” Mooney recalls thinking before passing out again.
“We started texting throughout the day the next couple of days,” he says. “Very quickly we landed on: ‘This isn’t a realistic Y2K, just power outages or computers going down; it’s more sci-fi come alive.’”
At the same time, Winter says, they “knew that it would be fun to explore the different social archetypes of the era. “
That included reflecting their own experiences as teenagers during the period – their interest in various forms of rap, for instance, which the movie’s young characters discuss passionately and at length while evading robotic killing machines.
“There (are) certainly aspects of both of us in all of the major characters, in different phases of our lives,” Winter says. For instance, he says, in middle school he was a big fan of Limp Bizkit’s rap rock/nu metal music, and the band’s lead singer, Fred Durst, has a key role in “Y2K” – as himself.
Mooney agrees: “I think there’s a piece of us scattered around all of these characters, especially Eli and Danny,” who, he says, provide “a sense of the vulnerability of that age.”
From left, Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler and Julian Dennison appear in a scene from the horror comedy “Y2K.” (Nicole Rivelli/A24)
“Y2K,” which is Mooney’s directorial debut, purposely mixes movie genres. It starts out like a typical late-’90s teen comedy on the order, Winter says, of “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” Then, for its shift to horror (albeit, comically over-the-top horror), Mooney and Winters say they drew from such films as “The Faculty,” “Virtuosity,” “The Lawnmower Man,” “The 13th Floor” “Hackers” and “Johnny Mnemonic.”
Ultimately, the film has something to say about technology’s dominance over humanity in the years since YTK. Have the computers won?
“We talked about that stuff quite a bit,” Mooney says.
But Winter is quick to add: “The key is … I don’t think anyone is coming to this movie expecting or wanting some sort of social commentary.”
The emphasis is on laughs.
Mooney, now 40, is best known for delivering big laughs during his nine seasons – from 2013 to 2022 – on “SNL.” He recalls the experience fondly, with a connection so strong that he still uses present tense to describe it:
“There’s so much laughter and enjoyment that happens when we’re writing, and when we’re pitching, and when we’re coming up with ideas, when we’re hanging out and even when we’re blocking and rehearsing sketches,” he says.
“It’s almost like there’s another show happening in the sense that you’re working with these people who are all super hilarious and awesome. …
“One of things that kept me there as long as I (stayed) is the people are wonderful. … I loved everyone there.”
** Click here for Tim Miller’s previous movie columns for Cape Cod Wave **
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Tim Miller, Movie Critic
Tim Miller is co-president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a Tomatometer-approved critic. He teaches film and journalism at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or follow him onTwitter @TimMillerCritic. Or you can ignore him completely.
