London Film Festival Review: Downsizing

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In a world as ridiculous as ours at the minute, people poking fun at the state of society are always welcome. Director Alexander Payne (The Descendants), has always been one for satire, and in his latest project entitled Downsizing, he has taken on the state of our environment in a wholly original way.

A long story about being short

As we all know the world is massively overpopulated and global warming is killing the planet, so how do we stop this? In Downsizing, Payne has written a very funny and original solution; shrinking people. Supposedly shrinking people means less waste, less starvation and less space used, and over the lengthy two and a quarter hour runtime, exploring the medical process of downsizing oneself to being only 5 inches makes for an interesting social satire. The story follows Paul, a man so fed up with his normal life that he downsizes in order to live like a king, only to learn that being small is a lot more than just that. The idea is obviously quite ridiculous but that only enhances the satirical element of the film, something that essentially carries it all the way through.

The problem with making a comedy this long is that the story has to support the length and make the viewer not want it to finish, but the actual story kind of loses its way. Initially the fascination of this downsizing is as enthralling as it is hilarious, even alluding to potential racial tensions between the small and the big which whilst silly is probably exactly the sort of thing that would actually happen, a razor sharp piece of commentary. However the story gets so wrapped up in what Paul is doing that the questions being asked about the state of our world go out the window and it goes from a thoughtful, intelligent story into a relatively cheesy, typical Hollywood one, something that feels wholly unnecessary and a mistake in the direction of the story.

Little people, but a lot of heart

Whilst there’s not any performances that could be classed as awards worthy in Downsizing, that’s not to say they’re bad by a long shot. Matt Damon is typically assured as Paul, utilising his comedic talents and putting them to good use, though his eventual love story with the brilliantly funny Ngoc played wonderfully by Hong Chau feels forced and doesn’t quite hit the emotional heights Payne might have been aiming for that Damon could have easily portrayed. Christoph Waltz is undoubtedly the highlight as he normally is, playing Paul’s slightly crazy neighbour Dusan, and his over exaggerated character traits enable Waltz to command the screen whenever he’s present and creates a huge amount of the film’s laughs.

Whilst the love story between Paul and Ngoc is likeable to a point and is undoubtedly heartwarming, it’s far too cheesy to support the satirical nature of the film. The hilarity and heart of the film truly lies within the ridiculousness of the downsizing and Payne’s social commentary, and intertwining this with a nice but forced love story just felt like the wrong thing to do. Technically speaking there’s a few elements that really stand out, such as some gorgeous cinematography, slightly trippy special effects and a very fitting score, yet it’s not technically astounding so to speak.

The Verdict

The intelligent, satirical nature of Downsizing stops it from being a slightly weird typical Hollywood love story, which is a nod to the wonderful originality of Payne’s ideas. Though the cast perform well there’s nothing that truly stands out as a brilliant performance, and despite a few gorgeous shots and a lovely score there’s just not an overwhelmingly great deal of things to rave about. The film’s best element is easily the humour and it succeeds wonderfully as a comedy, it just lacks the emotional edge for it to truly be classed as an awards worthy picture. Despite this, it is wholly enjoyable if a bit cheesy, but certainly one to watch if you fancy seeing someone poke a bit of fun at the world.

Rating: 7/10

Words by Elliott Jones

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