Downsizing

[zico]

8/10. Satirical and intriguing comedy-story about shrinking people to 5 inches tall. Stars Matt Damon.

The basic premise is that Scandinavians discover a way to help the environment by shrinking people so they consume less resources, and the USA naturally sees this discovery as an opportunity to have a more lavish consumer lifestyle. There are plenty of clever digs as the American Dream and their marketing. The story meanders in lots of interesting ways, and there's quite a bit of pointed humour and cynicism along the way. Matt Damon is good as a likeable everyman type of guy trying to do his best, and Christian Waltz is an entertaining playboy cynic who gets some good lines (you may remember him as the rubbish Bond villain in Spectre). Hong Chau is very good as a scene-stealing Vietnamese lady, whose delivery reminded me of a recent trip to Vietnam, where people can be much more direct and to the point than we're used to.

This is a film that constantly keeps you guessing as to where it's going to go to next, and there are frequent changes in tone, which could be seen as disconnected, but I thought it worked very well. The plotline doesn't necessarily hang together, as it's more concerned with setting up interesting situations for the main characters. The dilemma posed near the end of the film doesn't actually make sense, but strangely it does work well as a way of encouraging you to think about the issue in real-life. (This last sentence will hopefully make more sense if you watch the film.)

If you like films that make you think, this is for you.

[zico]

I've just noticed that Hong Chau isn't shortlisted for best supporting actress, which is a surprise, given how good she is in this. If anyone sees the film, I'd be interested in your views.