Downsizing (2017) – Review.
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
Downsizing stars Matt Damon as down on his luck Paul Safranek. When we first meet Paul he’s working as an occupational therapist who once had dreams of becoming a surgeon but wound up having to leave University to care for his ailing mother. We see snapshots of his life over the next few years, including his meeting and eventual marriage to Audrey, (Kristen Wiig) and the eventual downturn of their relationship as they become a humdrum, suburban couple, struggling with debt and always wanting more than they can afford.
Paul has never returned to his studies (with his mother now presumably passed away) and he now finds himself working as a supervisor at a meat processing factory to make ends meet. Seemingly stuck in a rut, Paul and Audrey attend a reunion party where they encounter an old friend (Jason Sudeikis) who has taken part in a radical new program known as Downsizing. This revolutionary new medical procedure shrinks the participant down to only a few inches tall. This may seem a strange choice, but it’s soon explained that this procedure comes with a lot of benefits. In an overcrowded world, being tiny allows the individual a life of luxury living a micro-community known as Leisureland. Paul and Audrey’s small bank balance will now equate to them being millionaires, with everything in their world costing a fraction of its full size equivalent.
Swayed by the glossy commercials and a cheesy sales pitch from Neil Patrick Harris (reminiscent of his character’s propaganda videos in 1997’s Starship Troopers).
Paul and Audrey agree to take the plunge into the world of the tiny and live the charmed life. Except they don’t. Paul wakes up from the procedure to discover that Audrey has had a last minute change of heart and has bolted from the laboratory after he was placed under
anaesthetic (although you’ve been warned about spoilers, this is shown in the trailer).
Alone and heart broken Paul finds little solace in his new world and falls into a state of depression, compounded further by his divorce and its mounting financial cost, leaving him now living in an apartment complex, replete with a noisy, eurotrash neighbour and black market dealer Dusan (Christopher Waltz). This leads to Paul encountering Dusan’s cleaning lady Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau). A Vietnamese dissident who was shrunk down as a form of punishment by her government and now finds herself a refugee in the tiny utopia. From this encounter Paul learns of the darker side to the mini world and the film takes a much more somber turn.
What starts out as a very interesting idea – and if you were to believe what you see in the trailer, a very funny comedy – quickly loses its way. Unfortunately by the film’s midpoint, I couldn’t help but feel that I had lost interest a little and also a little cheated out of the film that I had really wanted to see. It isn’t always a bad thing when a film bucks your initial perceptions. Unfortunately on this occasion I feel that the film may have been better served sticking to a lighter, more comedic tone whilst still retaining its overt social satire. The clear message of over indulgence and misuse of the world’s resources is of course a very important one but I felt that this was over delivered in a somewhat heavy-handed manner.
Damon plays such a bland, downtrodden character that I eventually found myself actually a little bored and frustrated by him. Both Waltz and Chau put in solid enough performances, but it’s safe to say that both of their characters are guilty products of stereotypical representation in the film.
All in all, the film left me short (ahem) changed in terms of enjoyment. Not that it’s an inherently bad film, but I would have to say that after a small (I’m going to stop this now) period of reflection I was certainly left a little (definitely the last one) disappointed.
Film ‘89 Verdict – 5.5/10
Downsizing is on general release in the U.S. now and is released in the U.K. today.