Y2K (R)
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Caution: spoilers.

This is part comedy horror and part sci-fi horror, but mostly comedy. It is set on New Year's Eve 1999 and New Year's Day 2000. So it's kind of nostalgic for me. Not so much for the whole Y2K computer bug thing; I don't think I paid too much attention to that, at the time. But nostalgic for 1999 culture in general, especially the internet. I never used AOL, but the depiction of dial-up internet, instant messengers, and such... yeah.

So, there are these two teenage friends, Eli and Danny. Eli likes a girl named Laura (Rachel Zegler), but for now they're just friends. She's part of the popular crowd, and he's not. But after she breaks up with her boyfriend, Jonas, Danny encourages Eli to take a chance with her, though Eli remains somewhat timid. Danny also thinks he and Eli should go to a New Year's Eve party that Laura will be at. It's at the house of a guy named Chris, who is also interested in Laura.

At midnight, all the technology in the house starts killing people, including Laura's friend, Raleigh. Eli, Danny, and Laura escape the carnage with a few others named Farkas, CJ, and Ash, who had previously intimidated Eli and Danny, earlier in the day. However, Danny is soon killed, leaving Eli distraught. (I kind of felt like it was weird that more time was spent dwelling on Eli's feelings after his friend's death than Laura's feelings about the death of Raleigh and her other friends, kind of like Leia comforting Luke after her whole planet was destroyed.) Anyway, the survivors head for an old mill without electricity, where they expect they'll be safe from the machines. There are already some other survivors there, including Jonas, who reconnects with Laura, and a sort of hippie stoner named Garrett, who was friends with Eli and Danny. A machine made up of various devices eventually shows up, and it has Eli's computer for a head. Jonas disables it and they tie it up, and Eli suggests that Laura, who is good with computers, should use it to figure out what's going on and possibly how to stop it. They learn that the machines want to enslave humanity. When the captive machine breaks free and attacks Laura, Eli admits his feelings for her and saves her from it.

When another machine comes for them, the group runs away, and briefly hides in a video rental store, where they meet famous nu metal artist Fred Durst (appearing as himself), who joins them. They then go to the high school, where all the machines are converging, apparently due to its internet connections. I guess Laura has programmed a virus or something to stop the machines, but it will be difficult to connect it to the main terminal or whatever. Meanwhile, the machines have gathered the townsfolk in the high school to implant computer chips that will convert them to mindless slaves. Among those awaiting implantation are Danny's mother, who is saddened to learn of her son's death, as well as Eli's mother (Alicia Silverstone) and father. Fred Durst distracts the machines while Eli and Laura try to upload the virus and spread it worldwide through the internet.

Well, I feel like I've said too much, but I've also left out lots of details, including some deaths. I will say there is another scene set five years later (and it's a bit weird to me that the former teens, now college age, still look like they did throughout the movie). There's also a mid-credits scene with Danny. And... I dunno, there's just all sorts of late 90's-ness about the movie that I liked, and some interesting interactions between various characters, like CJ and Ash, and CJ and Fred Durst, and Ash and Durst. And I vaguely felt like Farkas was trying to be Jay from Clerks, though that might just be me. The movie is mostly kind of silly, but it does have its more serious dramatic points. I liked most of the characters, and somehow managed to find the movie somewhat charming. It's not great, but I think it did what it was trying to do better than one would expect to be possible.