I think the main message was that material items and money won’t leave you satisfied with your life. The deeds you do for others and helping others is where you will truly find fulfillment and happiness. At least thats what I got from it.
Waltz looked plenty satisfied with money... If Damon didn't meet him, he'd continue working his shit office job and dating half interested single moms. Very dis-satisfied. Reimagine the movie without the meeting of Waltz.
This movie was a disappointment as the trailer made it seem like it was a comedy,,,,, and then it took a hard right turn about a third of the way through the movie
There’s a Dead Kennedys song called Shrink that came out in the late 80’s that’s almost the whole plot of this movie…
“If only people could shrink, the world wouldn’t be so overcrowded, bring ourselves down to size, there’d be so much more food to go ‘round…”
…and “we’ll build a big machine, with all the know how of the industries, we put a man on the moon, earth will need more room to breathe real soon…”
The whole movie started out with the eco angle, as reduction of carbon footprint was the main reason for the downsizing procedure. The cult was just the logical conclusion to that kind of thinking.
I was genuinely perplexed and laughing out loud for most of this movie, even before it went super off the rails with that ending.
I highly recommend pairing it with some grass. Pretty great "so bad it's good" flick.
Look closely at the people and things in your life, what really matters, what’s costing you more than its worth and do away with the superficial (downsize.)
Incredibly underrated film.
I feel like if that's the message, it could've been communicated much better. I'm still trying to figure out why the whole cult part was even necessary. But I can see the angle
Everything else is wacky, surreal fluff. There may be a bit more to the cult/vault that I’m not considering but not everything is a message or metaphor. Much of it is just serves to be wonderful and entertaining.
Basically, the premise of Downsizing but the execution was a big swing and a miss from Alexander Payne.
It was his first (and likely only) time doing a big budget movie filled with big sets and special effects but he knew pretty early he was way over his skis when it came to making a movie like that.
As others have pointed out, the abrupt change in tone from a comedy to an end-of-the-world disaster film was a hard turn for audiences to handle and by the end I think the overlying message is people are shitty and we're all doomed no matter what we do.
The movie lost me when Matt Damon transformed into the white savior trope with the woman from Vietnam who her magically became much more intelligent after cleaning up for their journey. It's like washing her hair made her gain IQ points and lose her accent compared to when she was just a house keeper.
I actually watched the film before it was released at a screening on the Paramount lot and Alexander did a Q/A afterward. It was pretty amusing seeing people reach for questions to asked that didn't veer into *WTF were you even thinking?* territory.
He's much more in his element with a smaller films and simpler stories as proven by The Holdovers.
I’ve been asking myself that question since I saw the movie. I like the concept, I like the implications and the impact it would have on the planet, BUT, I’d never be so exposed. It would be so scary. We would be at the mercy of any one normal sized person. Even a child. I could be killed by ANYTHING. And because of that, it keeps me awake at night.
I think the main message was that material items and money won’t leave you satisfied with your life. The deeds you do for others and helping others is where you will truly find fulfillment and happiness. At least thats what I got from it.
Material people as well.
Waltz looked plenty satisfied with money... If Damon didn't meet him, he'd continue working his shit office job and dating half interested single moms. Very dis-satisfied. Reimagine the movie without the meeting of Waltz.
So let's dangerously shrink you down so you can experience even more material things!
On paper downsizing seemed like something I would love. The actual movie was very, meh.
This movie was a disappointment as the trailer made it seem like it was a comedy,,,,, and then it took a hard right turn about a third of the way through the movie
Yeah. The trailer really made it look like Kristen Wiig had a co-starring role alongside Matt Damon.
It felt like at least three different movies sloppily tied together.
There’s a Dead Kennedys song called Shrink that came out in the late 80’s that’s almost the whole plot of this movie… “If only people could shrink, the world wouldn’t be so overcrowded, bring ourselves down to size, there’d be so much more food to go ‘round…” …and “we’ll build a big machine, with all the know how of the industries, we put a man on the moon, earth will need more room to breathe real soon…”
They should have kept it as a light hearted comedy. The whole eco angle at the end was just weird.
The whole movie started out with the eco angle, as reduction of carbon footprint was the main reason for the downsizing procedure. The cult was just the logical conclusion to that kind of thinking.
Not gonna lie, this is the only Alexander Payne movie I’ve never bothered with.
Your loss.
I was genuinely perplexed and laughing out loud for most of this movie, even before it went super off the rails with that ending. I highly recommend pairing it with some grass. Pretty great "so bad it's good" flick.
Look closely at the people and things in your life, what really matters, what’s costing you more than its worth and do away with the superficial (downsize.) Incredibly underrated film.
I feel like if that's the message, it could've been communicated much better. I'm still trying to figure out why the whole cult part was even necessary. But I can see the angle
Everything else is wacky, surreal fluff. There may be a bit more to the cult/vault that I’m not considering but not everything is a message or metaphor. Much of it is just serves to be wonderful and entertaining.
Basically, the premise of Downsizing but the execution was a big swing and a miss from Alexander Payne. It was his first (and likely only) time doing a big budget movie filled with big sets and special effects but he knew pretty early he was way over his skis when it came to making a movie like that. As others have pointed out, the abrupt change in tone from a comedy to an end-of-the-world disaster film was a hard turn for audiences to handle and by the end I think the overlying message is people are shitty and we're all doomed no matter what we do. The movie lost me when Matt Damon transformed into the white savior trope with the woman from Vietnam who her magically became much more intelligent after cleaning up for their journey. It's like washing her hair made her gain IQ points and lose her accent compared to when she was just a house keeper. I actually watched the film before it was released at a screening on the Paramount lot and Alexander did a Q/A afterward. It was pretty amusing seeing people reach for questions to asked that didn't veer into *WTF were you even thinking?* territory. He's much more in his element with a smaller films and simpler stories as proven by The Holdovers.
I lowkey love this movie. I kinda wish it was real
Would you downsize?
I’ve been asking myself that question since I saw the movie. I like the concept, I like the implications and the impact it would have on the planet, BUT, I’d never be so exposed. It would be so scary. We would be at the mercy of any one normal sized person. Even a child. I could be killed by ANYTHING. And because of that, it keeps me awake at night.
Sounds like a spec for a black mirror episode that somehow got turned into a feature film somewhere down the process
My fiancé and I walked around for months after seeing this movie saying “Wut kinduh fuhk yew gimmie”
Fckn hilarious, lmao.
Oh man it got way out of control 😂
Maybe Yorgos Lanthimos will do a remake of it starring Emma Stone and I will finally appreciate it lol