When Netflix announced the release of the comedy special ‘Death to 2020,’ it seemed like a promising way to bid farewell to this disaster of a year. These types of movies have been released for decades, providing a humorous outlook on the best and worst of the year. 

The movie was filmed in “mockumentary” format, and it used real clips from events during this year, along with scripted commentary from several different characters and a narrator (Laurence Fishburne). With everything that happened throughout the year, the movie had great potential. However, in many ways, it fell short. 

Many people were intrigued by its celebrity cast, including Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow and Leslie Jones. After the trailer was released, people expected it to be like ‘Saturday Night Live,’ where the actors impersonate real celebrities and public figures. However, this was not the case. 

Instead, the actors played characters such as reporters, scientists, therapists and normal people in society. These characters were basically just stereotypes, such as the tech-savvy millennial, the “Karen” or moody, middle-aged woman and the British woman, who is confused by the happenings in America. This disappointed a lot of critics and viewers because they felt these characters did not live up to the potential that the cast had. 

“They are supposed to be impressions, sort of, but impressions of nothing, and no one in particular,” said one reviewer from Vulture.  

Additionally, the directors’ vision seemed unclear at times. It was hard to tell what direction the film was intended to go in, and it seemed to go in several directions at once. For example, much of the movie involves making fun of these characters instead of making fun of the year’s events. This would not have been a problem if the characters had any depth or personality, but most of them were just stereotypes, so the jokes were pretty surface-level. 

The jokes they used besides these stereotypes were overused and unoriginal. Most of them just involved name-calling, such as referring to politicians like Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden as old, or Donald Trump as racist and unintelligent. Anyone who has been on social media, or maybe even watched the news, would have heard these same jokes before. 

All in all, “Death to 2020” was underwhelming and underdeveloped. It did not feel like it accurately depicted the magnitude of the year it is supposed to represent. The jokes were stale and overused despite the great potential they had. However, despite its flaws, “Death to 2020” would still be an interesting rewatch, especially several years from now, when 2020 is just a distant memory.