Don’t Look Up is fiction. Here’s the real science of that doomsday scenario

Enlarge / Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence co-star as low-level astronomers in Don’t Look Up (credit: Netflix )

Two low-level astronomers discover a “planet killer” comet hurtling toward Earth but struggle to get anyone to pay attention in Don’t Look Up , a new satirical sci-fi from Netflix. Directed by Adam McKay ( The Big Short ), it’s a mostly amusing, star-studded confection that ably skewers science denial and cynical politicking even in the face of almost certain annihilation.

(Mildest of spoilers for the film below. )

Per the film’s official synopsis: