When a kindhearted occupational therapist decides to take part in an experiment to save the planet, he soon learns that living the tiny life comes with its own set of huge problems.
Downsizing
Originally listed as a comedy, Downsizing, which was directed by Alexander Payne and starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig, Udo Kier, and Rolf Lassgard, is a true science fiction masterpiece. The film tells the story of Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) who decide to have a procedure that will shrink them to five inches. The procedure is first introduced ten years earlier by a Norwegian scientist, Dr. Jorgen Asbjornsen (Rolf Lassgard) as a means of addressing overpopulation and global warming.
Asbjornsen’s hopes are that people will use less food, create less trash, and hopefully protect civilization from mass extinction. The scientist has the right idea, but there are evil people who will use the process to attack their political enemies. Not everyone can have the procedure that is able to shrink organic material. The people who are excluded from this lifestyle have hip and knee replacements, pacemakers, or even gold fillings that can cause their bodies to explode. Only the healthy can do this procedure, but only after having fillings removed, and all bodily hair shaved off.
Like I said at the beginning, Paul Safranek is a good man who left medical school to take care of his mom. He worries about the planet, but what pushes him and his wife to finally take the jump is that they are financially struggling. If they have the procedure and move to Leisureland in New Mexico, their money will become billions because smaller means affordable.
Sometimes the best made plans fall apart as it did with Paul when, at the last minute, Audrey refuses the procedure and then sues him for half the marital financing leaving Paul downsizing from a mansion to an apartment and working at a call center.
Paul is befriended by two very wealthy and interesting European men, Dusan (Christoph Waltz) and Joris (Udo Kier) and, after a party in their apartment, later meets one of Dusan’s cleaning woman, Ngoc (Hong Chau), a Vietnamese activist who was shrunk by her government for protesting their cruel laws.
Conclusion
Downsizing, at the beginning, is a clever science fiction story. It shows the majestic nature of mankind when we try to do the right thing. We all want to protect Mother Nature, right? We all want to make sure that there is a sustainable planet that we can leave to our grandchildren, right? But humans have proven since the beginning of our short time on earth to be less the caretaker and more the demolition crew.
After Paul meets Ngoc, the film takes on a darker message. We are forced to see the ugly side of Leisureland…not everyone has the luxury of food or medicine. Matt Damon was his usual awesome self in this film, but the spotlight was stolen by the amazing Hong Chau as she teaches Paul, and the viewer, the true meaning of humanity. You can watch Downsizing on Netflix. It wasn’t a big hit at the theatre, but it is a great film with a hard message.
