Review of Downsizing (2017) by Peeteelee83 — 26 Nov 2018

The trailer does this movie a huge disservice. The trailer tries to sell this movie as a silly comedy, like Matt Damon's "Stuck On You." While the movie does have some silly, comedic bits, it's main focus is a satirical take on modern consumerism. If you go into the film expecting to be rolling on the floor laughing, you're going to be disappointed.

"Downsizing" is to modern 21st century mass consumerism as Voltaire's "Candide" was to 18th Century Leibnizian Optimism. Both works take the perspective of a generic everyman to illustrate the flaws in the times they live in and the mindset of the people around them. And in both works, the main character starts off seemingly indoctrinated by the world around them and proceeds to live through experiences that cause disillusionment. I won't spoil the ending, but if you didn't like "Candide," you're probably not going to like "Downsizing.".

It's not a comedy. It's meant to be a thought-provoking, satirical commentary on rampant, self-destructive consumerism. It does an acceptable job at that, though if you go into the movie blind like I did, you'll endure about an hour and a half of "where is this movie going" confusion.