Don’t Look Up Has Ruined Leonardo DiCaprio's Nearly Decade-Long 'Fresh' Acting Streak

The mixed reviews for new Netflix film Don’t Look Up have spoiled Leonardo DiCaprio’s untarnished reputation on Rotten Tomatoes, having ended a streak of nearly 10 years’ worth of ‘fresh’ acting credits. 

On Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates reviews to give viewers a bit of an overall consensus, the film has a fairly mediocre critics’ score of 56 percent – based on a total of 232 reviews. 

As ComicBook.com reports, this marks the first ‘rotten’ film that DiCaprio has starred in since Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby back in 2013, which had a 48 percent rating. 

Don’t Look Up, meanwhile, hasn’t been met with such critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone reviewer David Frear concluding: “Don't Look Up is a blunt instrument in lieu of a sharp razor, and while McKay may believe that we're long past subtlety, it doesn't mean that one man's wake-up-sheeple howl into the abyss is funny, or insightful, or even watchable.” 

James Berardinelli from ReelViews wrote: “Despite a to-die-for cast and a seemingly can't-miss premise, Don't Look Up is a failure on too many levels and, although the viewing numbers may satisfy Netflix, it's a shock to see such a high-profile film self-destruct.” 

That said, not all the critic reviews were negative, with Us Weekly’s Mara Reinstein referring to the film as ‘so-sharp-it-hurts satire that skewers our current state of politics, technology and celebrity culture within the context of an asteroid headed to Earth’. 

Anton Bitel from Sight & Sound also said the ‘broad, crass, scattergun comedy’ is one that ‘fairly reflects the age of distraction being so grimly targeted’, while Film Inquiry’s Stephanie Archer wrote: “Don't Look Up finds deeper meaning and a grander aesthetic that not only challenges the conversation but demands action - before it's too late. There is no mistaking that this is one of the best films of the year.”