The story focuses on Paul Safranek(Matt Damon) ,a physical therapist who decided to downsize together with his wife Audrey(Kristen Wiig). Initially, they were very skeptical of the idea of downsizing but through testimonies from their friends who have been downsized, they were starting to visualize themselves being small .Also,Paul also felt bad that he couldnt give the life that his wife always wanted so he agreed to downsize and live with his wife in leisureland (a community of downsized people).However,during the procedure, her wife decided to back out even after Paul have been downsized. His wife left him devasted. He thought that they were in this together. Her excuse was that she couldn't leave her family and friends. As promised by leisure land ,Paul gets to live in a big mansion, he had met new friends and partied like there was no tomorrow. He lived with no rules and no purpose. Then , he meets Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau), a Vietnamese immigrant refugee who would be his companion and make him realize his true worth.
The story started with a good foundation. The idea of downsizing was actually interesting as it was very unique. The animation of small humans were actually very impressive and accurate. As explained in the movie ,downsizing humans may help reduce wastes, lessen poverty, population, and help maintain food supply. Also, as promised, many people would be able to live their dream .Through this movie , downsizing seemed to be the ultimate solution to the common problems that we are currently facing. However, the movie also showed that there was also a bad side of Leisureland and that there are still poor communities in New Mexico who were not enjoying the benefits as promised.
The movie may have started nice with the idea of downsizing. However, the story plot was lacking, I expected more from it since the main lead is Matt Damon and the idea is unique and intriguing. I was expecting that his wife would probably return to him in the end ,but he actually met another woman but even after that, it didn't really make a big impact on the movie. I guess the main role of Ngoc Lan Tran was just to be a companion and lead him to the right path.There was also a scene wherein a group of people were about to escape since there was a rumor that it would be the end of the world.That scene was quiet a flop, they didnt show what really happened to the group of people and it was just confusing. Paul was actually going to join them to find a better purpose for his life but he realized that he'd rather join his friends and Ngoc Lan Tran and live a simple life. Honestly,I expected more funny scenes or at least romantic scenes. Overall, I would give this movie a 3/10.