‎Downsizing (2017) directed by Alexander Payne • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Downsizing

2017 Directed by Alexander Payne

We are meant for something bigger.

A kindly occupational therapist undergoes a new procedure to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife can help save the planet and afford a nice lifestyle at the same time.

Matt Damon Christoph Waltz Hong Chau Kristen Wiig Rolf Lassgård Udo Kier Ingjerd Egeberg Jason Sudeikis Søren Pilmark Maribeth Monroe Neil Patrick Harris Laura Dern Margo Martindale James Van Der Beek Niecy Nash Donna Lynne Champlin Don Lake Brigette Lundy-Paine Joaquim de Almeida Kerri Kenney-Silver Patrick Gallagher Pepe Serna Kathryn Aboya Jayne Houdyshell Phil Reeves Alison J. Palmer Tim Driscoll Kristen Thomson Kevin Kunkel Show All…

135 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Demi Adejuyigbe ★★ 20

30 MIN IN: Hey, conceptually, this is pretty good! Seems like a broad take on a smart sci-fi satire idea, but still not sure why people hate this!

60 MIN IN: ... oh

120 MIN IN: ......................................... oh.
Review by Sean Baker 10

I usually avoid watching screeners but I made the poor decision to watch this film on a DVD screener. It was a mistake. Alexander Payne always makes great films. Even his worst films are better than most. So I'm a moron for not seeing this on the big screen. One of my faves of the year.
Review by Griffin Newman 8

Hi, my name is Griffin Newman and I like the movie DOWNSIZING. By the time you are reading this I am probably dead, having been brutally murdered by the entirety of Film Twitter.
Review by Lucy ★★½ 5

a concept that would have been much better in the hands of yorgos lanthimos or even someone like charlie mcdowell. i was pretty intrigued while i was watching it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth afterwards. my original review was just gonna be “???” which pretty much sums it up
Review by karen h. ★★½ 3

in this movie people go from BIG to ˢᵐᵃˡˡ and incidentally this movie also goes from GOOD AND INTERESTING to ᵖʳᵉᵗᵗʸ ᵇᵃᵈ
Review by Sam M. ★½ 9

Downsizing was released in 2004, nominated for 6 Oscars, including best Adapted screenplay, best picture, and best director. The screenplay won the first round of the Blacklist survey for unproduced scripts. The project was picked up originally by Ron Howard and was then around until 20th Century Fox finally began production. David O. Russell, Ridley Scott, and Spike Jonze were all at some point set to direct, and Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, George Clooney, and Kate Winslet were all at one point attached. The name was changed post-Cannes premiere, where it was widely acclaimed, despite failing to win the Palme. Charlie Kaufman reportedly did rewrites after test audiences found the ending too bitter, but these suggestions were thrown out. Starring…

Recent reviews

Review by Alex V ★★★★½

I watched this twice in two days, and deleted my first review. I think it's an easy film to hate on, because quite clearly sections of the narrative are completely disjointed and also the film sets up an implied story without actually delivering on it in any conventional way. It is an uneven mess, but it's also full of ideas and thoughtful contradictions and layers of sub-text. I think it bears repeat viewing and I have a sneaky suspicion this could become one of my favourite films of modern times. If I let it.

There's a beautiful image of a 'Mi Casa' pizzeria sign early in the film, what looks like a neon Mexican man in a sombrero strumming a…
Review by Steve Robinson ★★★½

This was marketed as a comedy. This has comedic elements but it is not a comedy. It is a sweet, charming life drama with some funny moments. Like a lot of Alexander Paynes work this centre's itself on people. It's a film about life choices, emotions, moving forward and moving on, and a little bit about being 5 inches tall.

Payne succeeds in creating a world in which downsizing seems plausible and looks really real. The filming is so great you just accept the smallness of it all, appreciate the smallness of it all but give your attention to the characters and story.

He has written some amazing characters in this but it's greatest problem is its lead character Paul.…
Review by Tomiwa ★½

NOT GOOD.
Review by annelids ★★★

Why are they so small ?
Review by TJ Myers ★★★½

happy to report that i liked the movie where jason bourne becomes very small and finds his place in what is now to him a very big world.
Review by marga

interesting concept, could have been something if the characters weren’t one dimensional and stereotypical
Review by MatijaT ★★★★

I actually liked it. We need more original films like this one
Review by Connor ★★½

A George Shrinks live-action movie that makes all the same mistakes a George Shrinks live-action movie would make. We do not need to know the reason why George is so small, we just need to watch him zip around in his Zuper Car and play jazz with his zoot-suit wearing dad.
Review by maxmstein ★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This movie had SO much potential but fell very short. The trailers promoted a completely different movie. I expected a sci-fi movie based on a new idea and could tackle interesting views. What we get is a movie that uses this flimsy idea of “downsizing” to mask a confused story about climate change and consumerism. Literally nothing gets resolved and there is SO many loose ends left untied. The plot is so ridiculously progressed by random events it made no sense. His wife just up and leaves him for no reason whatsoever, sure! Make a big deal about small people destroying the economy, don’t ever cover that again and forget about it! There is an entire slum of poor small…