Downsizing (2017) Review

Paul Safranek is not happy in his life due to money issues and not being able to afford a new home that will make his wife Audrey happier, when Downsizing becomes a thing they decide to do it so they can live a better life with plenty of wealth while being 5 inches tall!

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I am starting to wonder if I just missed the whole point of this film or missed something about it as I really thought it dragged and felt like at least three different films badly rolled into one long boring film that lost its initial point. We skip over many years as well within the first I’m guessing 15-20 minutes, I didn’t time it obviously so just guessing with that.

Downsizing is a new thing that sees people opting to leave their current life behind and start a new life in well a new smaller world, where your money from your previous life is worth so much more. The procedure scenes were pretty intense really and a lot of people in the cinema screening I was in found them rather funny as well. Cannot really count myself in that to be brutally honest as I was more wondering what else I was going to be in for over the long 2 hours and 10 minutes running time for the film. I did feel though that the trailer totally spoils it that his wife doesn’t go through with the procedure, now that could have been a fantastic plot twist! But no, they decided to spoil it with the trailer when it could have been shocking.

Paul then had to adapt to that which meant the amazing huge mansion they had picked out together was not going to last long when they got a divorce. We are given reminders that these people in this world are very small by having something normal size thrown in for the perspective aspect, which might have been funny the first time but the fifth time not at all.

Ngoc made the film even worse for me, a Vietnamese woman who was involved in a serious incident but had since been forgotten about. She then showed that even this new world had very poor people living in poverty. Is it wrong that I was dubious about that as you had to have money to be Downsized? Ok, so maybe when I was watching it certain parts really did draw me in, but everything was left with pure frustration and wonder just why. Why did I choose to watch the film was the main one, honestly I felt like I really had wasted so much time and effort watching it. Such a disappointment as from the trailers it really did look interesting.

Instead we are given parties and drugs with Matt Damon in a substandard performance something else that I was a little disappointed about as I thought that maybe he could have saved it a little bit more although a big ask when he didn’t have a lot of good to work with. I guess I can understand the split views on the film though, as I guess if you got it more than I did then you will probably enjoy it. Such a shame really when it tried and dared to be different.