The official trailer for Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’s forthcoming Netflix mockumentary, Death to 2020, has been released.
Starring some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry—with Samuel L. Jackson portraying a reporter, Hugh Grant a history professor, Kumail Nanjiani a CEO of a tech company, Tracey Ullman as Queen Elizabeth II, Samson Kayo a scientist, Lisa Kudrow a “non-official” conservative spokesperson, Dianne Morgan a regular citizen, Leslie Jones a behavioral psychologist, Black Mirror “USS Callister” alum Cristin Milioti a soccer mom and Stranger Things‘ Joe Keery a gig economy millennial—the comedy event will examine “the dreadful year that was” through the eyes of s0-called “experts, politicos, monarchs and average citizens.”
With no more details revealed other than the cast and their characters, Leslie Jones’ statement at the end of the teaser pretty much sums up how this year has felt for most: “I’d say it was a trainwreck and a sh*tshow, but that would be unfair to trains and sh*t.”
“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,” Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker said in a statement. “So to me, Death to 2020 feels like the collision of several different strands. (Do strands ‘collide’? No. Apologies). But the approach for this is quite different from most of the topical comedy I’ve done in the past. For one thing, I’m not on screen presenting it — a relief for anyone watching in 4K — and it’s more character-based. In the loneliest year on record, I got to work (remotely) with writers and team members from my previous comedies, as well as many sickeningly talented people who were new to me.”
Annabel Jones added, “This year has been unusual in many regards, but what’s unified this year is the main stories we focus on — huge global stories, stories that affect the whole world. So we knew what the structure of the show was going to be, with quite a few surprises along the way!”
Watch the trailer above and catch the premiere of Death to 2020 on December 27 exclusively on Netflix.
