Y2K ending explained: It's Eli & Laura v/s the Robots as the future of the human race hangs in the balance

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Y2K movie. Reader discretion is advised.

Kyle Mooney's Y2K movie tapped into the nostalgia for a bygone decade when humanity was at the cusp of a millennium. People were scared that a computer bug would wipe out the entire human race. Two-odd decades later, the same people find it silly and blown out of proportion. Mooney's film captures this paranoia with a similarly silly and campy approach.

This apocalyptic sci-fi comedy film was co-written by Evan Winter with SNL alumnus Mooney. It starred Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, and Mooney himself. After its theatrical release in December 2024, it started streaming on Max.

It centers around a group of American teenagers who see the rumored prophecy become their reality on the last night of 1999. The machines suddenly rise together to kill the humans. So, the teens must find a way out of their collective misery or they will die any minute.

At the end of Y2K, Eli & Laura defeat the Amalgamation algorithm, which was killing the humans. They return to town five years later, to realize that the deadly algorithm has not been fully destroyed.

What happens in the Y2K movie?

Besides being an apocalyptic sci-fi film, Y2K is also about teens trying to figure out their lives. They experience romance and friendship amid the prevalent dichotomies among kids. Eli (Martell) and his close friend Danny (Dennison) are nerds who often get bullied. Laura (Zegler) is a popular girl, whom Eli has a crush on.

On New Year's Eve, Eli and Danny join a popular kid's party. Eli hopes to tell Laura how he feels. While trying to muster some confidence, he finds himself in a catastrophe, just like the rest. Kids start getting killed in the strangest possible ways. Still, one thing's common. They all get killed by one or the machine, which swiftly turns the film into a survival thriller.

How do Eli & Laura defeat the Amalgamation?

Laura joins Eli as they try to understand why the machines have suddenly gone on a killing rampage. Laura, secretly a nerd, figures out that an algorithm called Amalgamation is behind it. It has unified all electronic devices with a collective consciousness. The machines are simply too frustrated with humanity. So, they try to take over it.

The devices plan to control humans by inserting a computer chip in their brains to use them as storage spaces. Laura crafts a kill code to put an end to it. Toward the film's end, Laura inserts the virus into the hive mind. The virus kills the Amalgamation, at least for the time being.

Will the algorithm haunt the human race in the future?

After defeating the destructive algorithm, the humans are saved from the imminent Y2K bug's danger. Laura's actions also help humans to get rid of the infection and resume their regular lives. It seems like everything ends on a happy note for those who survive. However, that may not be the case after all.

The final moments of Y2K show Laura, Eli, and Ash five years after the tragedy. They return to town to visit the graves of their friends. Laura starts working for a tech company that creates devices that can detect similar threats. Ash, who owns a similar device, starts glitching as they try to leave the town. So, the algorithm might still haunt the human race in the future.

Although a self-contained story, the film conveys humanity's fear of similar algorithms controlling them.