Earlier this month, Hugh Grant revealed he had collaborated with Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker on a mockumentary about the past year – which had otherwise been kept under extremely tight wraps, to the point Brooker himself noted he wasn’t sure what he was allowed to say. Shortly after, Netflix dropped a very brief teaser, hinting that in addition to Grant, such names as Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Keery, and Kumail Nanjiani would be involved. Now, Death To 2020 has its very first trailer.
“2020. A year so [insert adjective of choice here], even the creators of Black Mirror couldn’t make it up,” reads the description.
“But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a little something to add. Death to 2020 is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was — and perhaps still is?”
“This landmark documentary-style special weaves together a chorus of narration from some of the world’s most (fictitious) renowned voices with real-life archival footage spanning the past 12 months.”
The stacked complete cast of Death To 2020 is as follows:
- Samuel L. Jackson – “Dash Bracket” (New Yorkerly News Reporter)
- Hugh Grant – “Tennyson Foss” (Professor of History)
- Kumail Nanjiani – “Bark Multiverse” (Shreekr CEO)
- Tracey Ullman – “Queen Elizabeth II” (Monarch & Figurehead)
- Samson Kayo – “Pyrex Flask” (Scientist)
- Lisa Kudrow – “Jeanetta Grace Susan” (Non-Official Spokesperson)
- Diane Morgan – “Gemma Nerrick” (Average Citizen)
- Leslie Jones – “Dr Maggie Gravel” (Behavioral Psychologist)
- Cristin Milioti – “Kathy Flowers” (Soccer Mom)
- Joe Keery – “Duke Goolies” (Gig Economy Millennial)
- Laurence Fishburne – “Narrator”
For those of you expecting something as bluntly confronting as Black Mirror, you may be in for some disappointment. As Charlie Brooker stated in an interview earlier this year, he believes the world has become far too bleak for entertainment of that variety. Instead, he’s returning to his more comedic-satire roots.
“Those who only know me through Black Mirror may not realize that when not writing speculative sci-fi about people frowning at smartphones, I’ve spent years making comedy shows in the UK – including many topical comedy specials.”
“At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on any [Black Mirror episodes]… I’m sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I’ve been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh.”
Death To 2020 will be available to stream via Netflix on December 27th.
