2020: an unexpected year filled to the brim with chaos, fear and heartbreak. At first, people thought it was going to be just another year, but then the new year came around and hit everyone over the head with a bat. Looking back at it all, Netflix recently released a movie, presumably attempting to mock our paranoia—and it worked. “Death to 2020” is a mockumentary that tells the story of the tragic year that people had to face.

Starring multiple well-known actors including Lisa Kudrow and Hugh Grant, “Death to 2020” provided comical relief for an otherwise very challenging year. With its corny yet laughable jokes, the movie poked fun at the serious events of 2020.  

The movie is based on a timeline, explaining each major event that occurred in the months of the year. Throughout the movie, the characters are being interviewed about major events in 2020 from their “expert” perspective. For example, the most memorable roles were a therapist, played by Leslie Jones, who writes books on human stupidity; a scientist, played by Samson Kayo, who investigates the coronavirus, and a New York journalist, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who criticizes every event that is going on.

Throughout everything that has happened, viewers needed a relief from all the seriousness. After all, laughter is the best medicine, and I did laugh. Most of the international characters voiced their opinions on the unfolding events but still made fun of them, such as Trump’s impeachment trial, the coronavirus outbreak and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

As I was watching this movie, I actually learned about some of the smaller events that happened in 2020. 

I’m not fond of the news but watching the characters mock other people for their wrongdoings or just mock them in general was quite entertaining. And as funny as the movie was, “Death to 2020” did bore me at some points. I thought the first part of the movie was pretty interesting, but as it went on, politics took over. It was like sitting through a history lesson, and although this movie was laughable, I thought it was a little too political for me. Movies are a way for me to take a break from reality, but this one trapped me there instead. 

The movie was a decent satire of our terrible experiences such as COVID, unemployment, lockdowns and homeschooling, but as all movie productions, it overdramatized some of the events and some of the character’s personalities. Lisa Kudrow who played Jeanetta Grace Susan, a Republican politician, was a little too unrealistic when answering interviewers questions in the movie. Her character would pretend that she didn’t say something that she did obviously say in the interview and then criticize the journalists that their social media platforms are corrupt. Yes, “Death to 2020” mocks and makes fun of everyone including politicians, but I thought they made it a little unrealistic. 

I usually watch movies to escape from all the stress that goes into my life but this movie made me relive a year I just want to leave behind.“Death to 2020” was a good mockumentary but at some points, it was just too political for a movie I would want to indulge in. It was exhausting because 2020 seemed to be the year of politicizing everything.