‘Y2K (2024)’: A Beautifully Stupid, Hilariously Gory, Nu-Metal Nightmare

By Lara Kramer  •  24 Feb 2025 in Movies & TV

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Going into Y2K, I had no idea what to expect besides murderous machines, some kind of homage to Limp Bizkit, and a wave of scathing reviews calling it absolute trash.

What I know now is that that exact combo is the perfect recipe for a kickass film.

I can’t even imagine watching this as an actual ‘90s kid (I was born in 2000, lol) and experiencing all the references firsthand—like witnessing a cursed time capsule of late-‘90s pop culture come to life and start slaughtering people. If you spent your childhood begging for a Discman, burning virus-infected CDs, or genuinely fearing Y2K might actually end the world, this movie will feel like an out-of-body experience. It’s so committed to the era that you can practically smell the Hot Topic body spray through the screen.

For context, the Y2K panic stemmed from an overblown tech flaw—computers stored years as two digits (e.g., “99” for 1999), raising fears they’d mistake 2000 for 1900.

People predicted mass system failures—banks crashing, power grids failing, even nukes launching (mostly conspiracy talk). Governments scrambled to fix it, and when 2000 hit, nothing major happened. But, as you can see, the hysteria left a lasting mark on pop culture.

The Plot? Thin. The Vibes? Immaculate.

The story follows Eli (Jaeden Martell), a classic high school outcast hopelessly pining after Laura (Rachel Zegler), the untouchable popular girl. With his best friend Danny (Julian Dennison, who delivers the movie’s best lines), they crash a Y2K New Year’s Eve party, and then—boom—the apocalypse begins. Imagine Superbad getting hijacked by Shaun of the Dead, except instead of zombies, it’s rogue fax machines, killer Furby knockoffs, and printers that have finally had enough of our sh**.

The movie starts off with that familiar, almost comforting teen-comedy setup—nerds sneaking into a party they definitely weren’t invited to—but then it absolutely detonates into chaos. The ceiling fan, the blender—hell, even the toy car—lose their minds in a full-blown mechanical tantrum. The kills? Absolutely bonkers. So over-the-top and wildly unnecessary that they circle back to pure genius.

And amidst it all, our heroes stumble their way through survival, dodging tech that’s spent decades bottling up murderous rage. This film is the retro lovechild of an angsty, baggy-jeaned teenager and a violent washing machine.

And listen, I saw a review that said, in verbatim:
“People who found this entertaining most likely will be sitting in their backyard when they get old with a bottle of cheap wine watching their grass grow.”

If that’s not enough to make you wanna watch it, I don’t know what will.

There’s no high art here. Y2K is gory, nonsensical, and predictable (except for Fred Durst’s cameo—what a gift to humanity). But that’s the beauty of it. It fully embraces its own absurdity, leaning all the way into the cringe. The acting is awkward, the jokes miss more than they hit, and the script feels like it was written on a flip phone keyboard. It’s got the energy of a bootleg VHS tape you’d find in a dusty gas station bargain bin. And yet, you can’t look away.

The gore? Delightfully over-the-top. People get impaled by CD changers, shredded by floppy disks, and taken out by tech that was outdated before I was even born. It’s the kind of Final Destination-level absurdity that makes you laugh as much as you cringe. If you appreciate Evil Dead II-style splatter mixed with 90 minutes of relentless nostalgia, this is your movie.

But what really ties it all together? The friggin’ soundtrack.

If you’re a fan of nu-metal, pop-punk, or anything that sounds like it came straight off your Pro Skater soundtrack, you’re in for a treat. Every fight scene is accompanied by distorted guitars, aggressive rap-rock, and beats that sound like they were made specifically for a PlayStation commercial in 1999. It’s gloriously excessive, and very Jon Davis.

Should you see it in theatres? Probably not.

But should you stream it at home with friends, a cheap six-pack, and zero expectations? Absolutely. The B in B-movie stands for Buzzed AF, and that’s exactly the way to experience Y2K. It’s trash, it knows it’s trash, and honestly? That’s kind of the point.

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