As a cast member on Saturday Night Live, comedian Kyle Mooney’s skits were famously — and often unjustly — cut for time. Now, in his feature directorial debut Y2K, he gets an hour and a half to showcase his creative capabilities.

Student Entertainment Events held an advanced screening of A24’s upcoming disaster comedy in Stamp Student Union’s Hoff Theater Tuesday. Students dressed up in ‘90s clothing and enjoyed a Y2K-themed candy bar spread featuring Razzles and Fun Dip.

Max Berkey, an account coordinator with Allied Global Marketing, said studio A24 wanted to hold a screening for college students on a campus with a strong sense of school spirit. This university was the “perfect choice,” he said.

Before the film started in Hoff Theater, a brief message to this university’s students from director Mooney played. In it, he told viewers to enjoy the movie and “stay cool.”

“Studios like A24 love to be able to share that personal touch with the audiences” Berkey, a self-proclaimed huge fan of SNL, said. “And obviously, Kyle and a bunch of other great actors like that are happy to do it to make people smile.”

With AOL instant messaging, slow-mo scenes set to throwback songs and a real-life conspiracy twisted in a technologically fantastical way, Mooney made an audience of college students nostalgic for a time before them.

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“I wasn’t alive for the real Y2K, all I know is stories I heard from my parents,” sophomore computer engineering major Paul Okparaocha said. “I didn’t feel like waiting for the release … so I was like, why not see it now?”

Building on the concept of the 1999 TV movie of the same name, the film takes place at a New Year’s Eve party in 1999. The high school characters’ priorities shift suddenly when a conspiracy that the world is ending seemingly comes true.

‘90s technology ranging from standard desktop computers to Tamagotchis come alive — collectively plotting to enslave humans and take over the world.

Producer Jonah Hill’s influence is evident. The first quarter of Y2K contains the classic buddy comedy vibes of 2012’s 21 Jump Street without lazily falling back on using minority groups as a punchline.

But the level of gore in the film was surprising. Don’t get too attached to anyone in the ensemble cast. Things go down very suddenly.

The cast was stacked. Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler, It star Jaedon Martell, metal band Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and even Mooney himself band together in an epic battle of man versus machine. Some actors suffered from “Instagram face,” clashing against the ‘90s aesthetic.

When senior information science major Trinity Hill first noticed rapper The Kid LAROI on the big screen, she said aloud in the theater, “Oh no, it’s time to go.”

“Why The Kid LAROI? I saw him come out, and was like, ‘Maybe I should act,’” Hill said. “I’m happy they didn’t give him more lines than they needed to, but they should have given him zero.”

“Seen and not heard,” D’Airra Clark, a senior cinema and media studies major, added.

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Y2K felt like an extended Mooney SNL skit. The violence was brutal but still comedic. Mooney killed off beloved characters with ease alongside insane creativity and humor.

The soundtrack fit the movie perfectly. Songs like “Tubthumping” and “Thong Song” had the audience cracking up. Concluding with “Closing Time” was the icing on the cake of a film that can only be described as a hilariously gruesome period piece.

Kevin Hrozencik graduated from this university in May and now works for Allied. He shared hope that while it may sometimes feel like it, we are not experiencing the end of the world — unlike what the conspirators behind Y2K wanted people to believe.

“For everyone scared of post-graduation, it gets better,” Hrozencik said. “Trust me, there’s a little dip. You’ll get sad for a while, and then it gets better, and then everything will feel really good.”

Y2K will release in theaters on Dec. 6.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled Max Berkey’s last name. This story has been updated.