April 20, 2024

(Main Cast) Kristen Wiig plays Audrey Safranek, Matt Damon plays Paul Safranek, Maribeth Monroe plays Carol Johnson and Jason Sudeikis plays Dave Johnson in Downsizing from Paramount Pictures.

(Main Cast) Kristen Wiig plays Audrey Safranek, Matt Damon plays Paul Safranek, Maribeth Monroe plays Carol Johnson and Jason Sudeikis plays Dave Johnson in Downsizing from Paramount Pictures.

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

Has life gotten you down? Are you examining yours, asking, “How did I get here?!” Once in a lifetime an opportunity presents itself to do something crazy. Apparently in co-writer/ director Alexander Payne’s world, that means downsizing – and not just downgrading a lavish lifestyle. Actually getting smaller. In DOWNSIZING, Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig get small.

The concept is so far out there, I can’t help but have my interest piqued. A modern take on HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS, but with deeper meaning, Payne and co-writer/ frequent collaborator Jim Taylor appear to have crafted something zany but meaningful.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Downsizing imagines what might happen if, as a solution to over-population, Norwegian scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall and propose a 200-year global transition from big to small. People soon realize how much further money goes in a miniaturized world, and with the promise of a better life, everyman Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in Omaha in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures. 

DOWNSIZING opens on December 22.

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