Heat waves, floods, water shortages, the rise of facism, Johnny Depp’s continued presence in Hollywood — everywhere you look, there’s something to make you feel like modern society is a hell from which we will never escape. Timothée Chalamet, Oscar nominee and future young Willy Wonka, captured this sense of impending doom during a recent press conference, declaring, “Societal collapse is in the air.”
Chalamet mused on the existential crisis that goes hand in hand with being a living, breathing person in 2022 during his appearance at the Venice Film Festival. He was there to promote the cannibal love story Bones and All, which takes place in the ’80s, and said that playing a young man who lives in an age without social media was a unique experience for him. “To be young now, and to be young whenever — I can only speak to my generation — is to be intensely judged,” Chalamet said during the press conference for the film on Friday, per E! News. “It was a relief to play characters who are wrestling with an internal dilemma absent the ability to go on Reddit, or Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok and figure out where they fit in.”
Continuing his philosophical observations, the actor continued, “It’s tough to be alive now. I think societal collapse is in the air — it smells like it.” I don’t know what the air smells like in Venice, but I’m willing to take Chalamet’s word for it.
When he wasn’t contemplating the end of society, Chalamet was making the most out of his short Venice visit. He made headlines when he walked the red carpet of Bones and All in a backless, shimmering red jumpsuit. The look from designer Haider Ackermann didn’t really scream “the end times are coming,” but it did show that, as long as society hasn’t collapsed, Timmy is going to keep surprising fans on the red carpet. At least we have one thing to look forward to.