Don’t Look Up ending explained: Does everyone die?

As the year is almost over, there’s still a couple of more exciting titles coming to streaming. Don’t Look Up is one of the most anticipated Netflix movies of 2021, and it’s finally here! The Adam McKay satirical film hit theaters earlier this month, but now we can all watch it from the comfort of our homes.

The dramedy follows a professor named Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), after they discover a huge comet coming towards Earth at an alarming speed. They attempt to alert the president (Meryl Streep) with the help of a scientist named Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), but unfortunately it’s not as easy as it would seem.

President Orlean cares more about her campaign than the future of the planet, and we learn pretty quickly that most people in the film actually do prioritize their own lives over mankind. Don’t Look Up is an allegory for the climate crisis, and it can definitely make the viewer angry with the way the characters behave.

Spoilers ahead for Don’t Look Up.

I’d recommend watching Don’t Look Up, but if you’re ready to just know how the movie ends instead, you’ve come to the right place.

Does the comet hit Earth in Don’t Look Up?

Though Dr. Mindy and Kate pull out all the stops in attempts to warn people about the comet coming towards Earth, the people in charge simply don’t care.

President Orlean eventually teams up with a tech billionaire named Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) after realizing the comet is made up of very valuable minerals, and they hatch up a plan that would stop the comet but preserve the expensive stuff. That plan, ultimately, fails.

The United States turns to chaos as people prepare for the end of the world. On the other hand, there are comet deniers, who follow President Orlean and refuse to believe the Earth is about to be blown up. While this is meant to symbolize climate change deniers, it’s also eerily similar to people who don’t believe in the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the end, Dr. Mindy, his family, Kate and her new love interest Yule (Timothée Chalamet) all get together to have a nice dinner as they wait for the comet to hit. The house starts shaking and coming down as everything blows up and Earth is destroyed. Almost everyone on the planet dies instantly.

Don’t Look Up mid-credits scene explained

President Orlean and the passengers on her ship manage to get away from Earth, flying to another planet. But during the mid-credits scene of Don’t Look Up, we see that they can’t save themselves after all.

The group awakens from cryogenic sleep and walks off the ship onto a beautiful planet. But before they can truly enjoy their new reality, a huge bird-like creature attacks the president, and more emerge. It’s assumed they’re all killed by these creatures.

Don’t Look Up post-credits scene explained

And before the movie is truly over, we get one last scene. In the rubble from the comet hitting Earth, we see President Orlean’s son Jason (Jonah Hill) emerge, calling for his mom. He takes out his phone and starts recording himself, telling his followers he’s the last man on Earth and asking for people to like and subscribe.

Of course, with everyone else on Earth presumably dead, no one will see his video.

Don’t Look Up is streaming on Netflix right now.