Movie · 2017 · Drama, Science Fiction, Comedy · 2h 15m · R · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (343.7K ratings)
We are meant for something bigger.
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 5.8/10
Letterboxd: 2.38/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 47%
Metacritic: 64
TMDB: 5.4/10
Director
Alexander Payne
Production
Ad Hominem Enterprises, Gran Via Productions, Paramount Pictures
Cast
Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig, Rolf Lassgård, Ingjerd Egeberg, Udo Kier, Søren Pilmark, Jason Sudeikis, Maribeth Monroe, Jayne Houdyshell, Phil Reeves, James Van Der Beek, Alison J. Palmer, Tim Driscoll, Kristen Thomson, Kevin Kunkel, Patrick Gallagher, Linda M. Anderson, John Reynolds
Where to watch
fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious high-concept satire with a genuinely intriguing setup, but it loses focus as it goes and never fully cashes in on its premise. The worldbuilding is often more interesting than the story, though the film has enough ideas, tonal strangeness, and a standout supporting performance to make it worth a curious watch.
Best for
Viewers who like socially minded sci-fi with a satirical edge
Fans of films that start as concept comedies and drift into melancholy drama
People interested in class, consumerism, and environmental allegory
Viewers who don’t mind uneven, digressive storytelling
Skip if
You want a tight, consistently funny comedy
You need a premise that stays fully committed to its sci-fi world
You’re frustrated by films that feel like they abandon their own setup
You prefer clear tonal control and strong narrative momentum
Overview
Downsizing begins with one of the more irresistible sci-fi ideas of the 2010s: what if shrinking yourself solved money, space, and environmental guilt all at once? For a while, the movie is exactly as curious and playful as that premise promises, using its miniature world to poke at status anxiety, privilege, and the fantasy of starting over.
Worth noting
The problem is that the film keeps changing shape before it finds a satisfying one. What starts as a sharp social satire gradually turns into something looser, sadder, and more scattered, and the transitions can feel like the movie is losing confidence in its own concept. The result is less a clean failure than a fascinating mismatch between expectation and execution.
Bottom line
Even so, there are pieces worth seeing: the production design of the shrunken world, the uneasy blend of comedy and despair, and a magnetic supporting turn that gives the film real emotional texture. It’s a movie with ideas to spare, even if it never organizes them into a fully persuasive whole.
Top Letterboxd reviews
karen h. (2.5★) · 3541 likes
in this movie people go from BIG to ˢᵐᵃˡˡ and incidentally this movie also goes from GOOD AND INTERESTING to ᵖʳᵉᵗᵗʸ ᵇᵃᵈ
Griffin Newman · 2963 likes
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.
Lucy (2.5★) · 1731 likes
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
luke livermore (2★) · 1672 likes
It's honestly impressive how they managed to take such a fun, inventive concept with so many narrative possibilities, and turn it into something that excruciatingly fucking boring.