Bill Nye calls Don’t Look Up a ‘painfully’ accurate commentary on climate crisis inaction

Netflix’s black comedy received a mixed critical response, but its commentary on science is spot on, says Bill ‘the Science Guy’ Nye

Bill Nye says Don’t Look Up was such a “painfully” accurate commentary on the state of inaction in fighting the climate crisis that the satirical film’s message was missed.

The “Science Guy” told USA Today that the Netflix dark comedy about two experts trying to warn about an imminent catastrophic meteor strike had portrayed the science accurately.

However, he added it was “preaching to the converted” and likely hadn’t persuaded many climate change deniers.

“I wouldn't be surprised if the irony of Don't Look Up is lost on the people it was really intended for because it is so painfully close to what's happening right now.”

The star-studded film received a mixed response upon its release on Netflix in December last year.

Scientists were largely supportive of the film’s theme that politicians and the media are too caught up in trivial scandals and sideshows to achieve any meaningful progress on the climate crisis.

Writing in the Scientific American, astrophysicist Rebecca Oppenheimer lauded the film for “taking on the gargantuan task of combatting the rampant denial of scientific research and facts”.

“Funny, yet dead serious, Don’t Look Up is one of the most important recent contributions to popularising science,” she wrote.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

Bill Nye has a new show (Getty Images)

The critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a rating of just 56 per cent, was less favourable, saying it “aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land”.

The movie, which starred played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill and Timothee Chalamet, received a respectable 78 per cent rating in its audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Actor Ron Perlman, who played a general sent into space to stop a comet, had a blunt message for the critics in an interview with The Independent in January.

“F*** you and your self-importance and this self-perpetuating need to say everything bad about something just so that you can get some attention for something that you had no idea about creating,” said the actor.

It was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, but failed to win any.

Bill Nye is promoting a new show on climate disasters The End is Nye, in which he explores the possible impacts of six human and natural disasters, including a meteor strike and super volcano.

He told USA Today he was trying through the Peacock show to empower individuals to take action by providing them with pragmatic advice.

“Vote for lawmakers who want to address these problems. Take the environment and the future into account when you vote,” Mr Nye told the site.

“If you’re not optimistic, you’re not going to get anything done.”