X
- 2017
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 15 m
- 2017
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 15 m
Summary When scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to over-population, Paul (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures. [Paramount Pictures]
Directed By: Alexander Payne
Written By: Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne
- 2017
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 15 m
- 2017
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 15 m
Downsizing
64
5.3
Where to Watch
Summary When scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to over-population, Paul (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures. [Paramount Pictures]
Directed By: Alexander Payne
Written By: Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
64
56% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
38% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
6% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
64
56% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
38% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
6% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Weird and wonderful, zigging where it should zag and zagging where it should zig, this wildly imaginative flight of fancy strikes an admirably poised balance between whimsy, screwball comedy, social satire and generous meditation on the foibles and highest aspirations of human nature.
Payne’s lm is full of invention, wit, great scenes and big — if not fully realised — intentions. Downsizing may be about a small world, but it is an audacious, out-sized peach of a picture.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 231 User Ratings
5.3
32% Positive
74 Ratings
74 Ratings
42% Mixed
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
26% Negative
59 Ratings
59 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 231 User Ratings
5.3
32% Positive
74 Ratings
74 Ratings
42% Mixed
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
26% Negative
59 Ratings
59 Ratings
An original movie with a quirky premise that really grew on me and took me on a thoroughly enjoyable ride. In a field of cookie-cutter, predictable movies Downsizing was refreshingly original.
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Plainly put, movies like this don't come around often enough. With a refreshingly adult take on the "Indian in the Cupboard" (and only marginally less-racist) this film will take you in for the entirety of it's runtime. Beautiful scenery, an encouraging take on classes in society and plenty of humor make this a comfy escape for a few hours.
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The movie is a surprise, the good kind, an instance of a filmmaker zigging just when you’re expecting him to zag.
Although the sci-fi trappings of Downsizing make it seem like a big departure from Payne’s previous work — The Descendants, Sideways, About Schmidt — it is the same in important ways. It’s a movie about a man suddenly separated from people he’s loved, trying to learn how to live again.
It's hard not to appreciate the visual and thematic scope of "Downsizing's" reach. But it's harder not to see the chasm between its strange, misshapen story and the grand, towering vision to which it aspires.
It’s not very funny, it’s not very dramatic. There’s a spark of intelligence here, a valid critique of doomsday culture and escapism, but it’s the sort of message you can easily get off of a cocktail napkin.
By the end, Downsizing is one of those great ideas that should have just stayed an idea.
The movie is proper entertainment. While it touches on some important topics such as environmental issues and overpopulation they are not the main theme. Actually, the main theme is hard to describe as it seems to change a few times but that doesn't ruin the movie at all.
I feel like people get some expectations based on the trailer and get them **** during the movie, hence the low rating so far. I expected nothing more than good acting when I saw the cast and was not disappointed at all.
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In 2017, one of the holiday movie releases that I was most anticipated was a film called Downsizing from director Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Nebraska, Sideways, About Schmidt) and starring a stellar cast including Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Kristin Wigg, Jason Sudeikis, et cetera. What’s not to be excited about? On top of that, it’s an original sci-fi movie that takes place in a modern world and looks at our lives through a sci-fi lens; critiquing us and our lives is the pinnacle of great, classic sci-fi and to see another movie do that and appeal to a wide audience is something that makes me genuinely happy.
And then the movie comes out.
Not only does it not do too well at the box office (at all), but the reaction it garners from critics and audiences alike was disappointing to say the least. Of course, being the naïve millennial that I am, I think that in order to enjoy this movie to it’s fullest potential, I should wait until the hoopla dies down and I may watch it with a clean slate. So, that’s exactly what I do.
I wait.
Now, it’s free to watch with a Hulu subscription (which I have because Community is a show that exists) and I was excited to see it pop up on my home screen. Over the last three nights, I finally watched it for myself. What did I think?
Yeah, “mixed reviews” sound about right.
During the first, say, 30 minutes I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. I think the premise is truly great and reminds me of some of Jim Carrey’s best films of the late-90’s and early-2000’s. With a script as unique as this, undeniable talent in front of and behind the camera, and an audience that’s clamoring for a great tale that this film promised, what went wrong? Well, it was the marketing that ruined this film. Even after waiting over a year to watch it for myself, I still feel as though this film has been grossly mismarketed in every way. Granted, I’m not sure how I would market this either (at least not honestly), but that doesn’t change the fact that what people wanted and what people got were dreadfully different.
While I sound quite negative in my perspective of the film, know that it is not the film itself that I have such disdain for, but the way this film was sold to audiences. If you remember the trailers, and I urge you not to, you’ll remember that this was sold as an Oscar-bait drama/comedy about life itself, and how best to appreciate it. It seemed like it was going to be a movie about enjoying the small aspects of life, paying attention to the little things, not judging a book by its cover and all of that cliched, usual stuff. What was this movie actually about? Well…enjoying the small aspects of life, paying attention to the little things, and not judging a book by its cover. But also, the end of the world? If Jim Carrey was in a movie that’s like Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, I’d see that in a heartbeat. It would be unique, entertaining, and heartfelt.
This did not end up being that movie. It’s not Matt Damon’s fault, but the character we follow for the 135-minute runtime makes the film feel so much longer than it actually is. We don’t follow him because we enjoy being with him, we follow him because we pity him and, like the movie says at least three times, he’s pathetic. This movie is about his personal growth from being an everyday “no man,” to more of a free-willed “yes man.” Again, Jim Carrey would have made this movie simply marvelous. Instead of being about the celebration of life, it’s about how Paul becomes less pathetic. Still, the whole “nothing ever goes right for this guy” continues all the way until the credits, so did his new-found outlook on life really make a difference? I don’t think so.
I love a good character study, and I love a good movie about accepting the broad, uncontrollable aspects of life…but this film is neither, and it feels like it becomes something completely different. It’s about a very non-special man who undergoes a procedure that 3% of the entire Earth’s population goes through, who we pity throughout, and who weaves in and out of other people’s lives so much so that you never really know which characters are going to still be in the movie after another 10 minutes, and then who encounters the possible end of the human race. By the end of the film, we have such a rag-tag group of misfits that I felt as though I was watching something completely different than what I started three years ago (or however long this movie was).
However, I actually quite liked the movie. I did not find it boring, bad, or in any way unbearable. Granted, it was a good 135-minute movie when it could have been a bloody fantastic 90-minute movie but the film we got is what it is: a unique sci-fi movie that was embarrassingly mismarketed.
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Billed as a comedy, Downsizing didn't last long in theaters, but looking at it from the perspective of Science Fiction and taking into account it's message about environmental protection, this film ends up having a lot more depth than the lame duck comedy it was advertised as. In the near future, a scientist comes up with a way to stop the problem of overpopulation by shrinking people to five inches tall. At first the world is shocked, but when the financial benefits come to light, ordinary people are rushing to have a life of luxury. One such person is Paul Safranek (Matt Damon), who is at risk of losing his home and marriage. He and his wife decide to undergo the procedure, but when Paul awakens, he learns that his wife couldn't go through with it, and he's left to navigate this brave new world on his own. The logistic and social changes brought upon by this simple transition are amazing! I really got into the whole thing from the process to the luxury world they live in, and to the discovery that poverty can still exist even in paradise. I really don't know why the studio would bill and advertise this film as a comedy, because really it's more sad than it is funny. In fact, aside from a few lines here and there, nothing about this film or the situation Paul gets into are really funny. Matt Damon stars and as has become common place with him lately, he seems to just be going through the motions. His lack of emotion made his a hard character to like. Thankfully he is paired with newcomer Hong Chau who really steals the show. Downsizing is a film with a terrific idea, with every last detail executed to perfection, however once characters get involved, the story becomes much less interesting. Once you put aside the setting, this film can be broken down to a simple love story, which doesn't do the rest of the film justice.
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The movie is quite interesting all up to the point where they enter the tiny world (about 30 minutes in). Then it becomes a boring drama. I'd expected it to be a bit like "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", but it is not - not even by a long shot.
You don't even know they are in a tiny world during most of the movie. They have everything from TV's to coffee machines and busses. And basically NONE of it looks "small". It's just an ordinary coffee machine and an ordinary TV.
I was interested in the tiny concept of the movie. But when that was removed, there was nothing left but a sluggish, sleep-inducing drama.
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Production Company
Paramount Pictures,
Ad Hominem Enterprises,
Gran Via Productions,
Truenorth Norway
Release Date Dec 22, 2017
Duration 2 h 15 m
Rating R
Tagline We are meant for something bigger.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
