What Happens to President Orlean at the End of Don’t Look Up?

Written and directed by Adam McKay, ‘Don’t Look Up’ is a satirical comedy that makes a farce out of a disaster movie. The premise entails an apocalyptic event, but nobody believes there will be an apocalypse. People have lived long enough to see the doomsday-preppers, and they cannot differentiate a scientist from a conspiracy theorist. Thus, when professor Mindy and her devoted student Kate predict an impact event, their fateful quest to warn humankind is doomed.

The apocalypse does not go viral, no matter how much they scream. However, when the President enters the scene, the story takes a different course. Now that they believe it, they try to find ways of monetizing the asteroid. The fate of humankind is doomed for sure, but Meryl Streep delivers a terrific performance in the garb of evil President Orlean. However, the ending has a surprise for her character in store, and if you seek to know the final fate of President Orlean, we are here to help. SPOILERS AHEAD.

What Happens to President Orlean at the End of Don’t Look Up?

President Orlean is one of the most memorable wicked characters in the movie. Mindy and Kate meet the President in Washington D.C. in wartime readiness. However, she cannot make it due to her busy midterm campaigns. She asks the scientists to “sit tight and assess” the situation. Outraged after the dismissal, Kate and Mindy go to the media. The President’s office denies the meeting altogether. The case reaches an impasse with the unfolding events going out of their hands.

The Daily Rip segment does not go viral. The scientific community bids farewell and prepares to embrace the catastrophe with the setback. However, a scandal of the President erupts in the media. The President greenlights a heroic mission to save the planet, presumably to secure votes in the upcoming midterm election. They do not need scientists to pull off the task, and the responsibility goes to racist General Benedict Drask. However, to the dismay of the global populace, the missiles head back to Earth.

Isherwell, a significant presidential campaign donor, has access to the cabinet. He comes into the “top-secret” meeting to divulge his plan, which entails excavating the asteroid in search of valuable minerals necessary to make electronic motherboards. The program is not peer-reviewed, and the mission turns on its head. Isherwell’s tech company BASH’s space robots start to malfunction one by one, but thankfully, he has a backup plan ready. True to the prophecy, the asteroid impacts Earth. The President, Isherwell, and other elites hop on tiny space capsules, only to descend on an alien planet 22,740 years later.

Thanks to the cryogenic sleep, the President has retained her age and moves. A naturalistic dance sequence follows, but the President becomes way too friendly with an alien creature, bringing her doom. The colorful bird chews on her head, while Isherwell deduces that the bird is Bronteroc, after his intelligent A.I. Although the President survives the apocalypse, her death becomes a poetic justice. President Orlean’s role in the ruin of human civilization is instrumental, and her final death brings the story to a rounded conclusion.

Read More: Are Dr. Mindy and Kate Dead or Alive at the End of Don’t Look Up?