2017 film directed by Alexander Payne
Downsizing is a 2017 American science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, written by Payne and Jim Taylor, and starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, and Kristen Wiig. It tells the story of Paul Safranek, who decides to undergo a recently invented procedure to shrink his body so he can start a new life in an experimental community, which he ends up doing alone when his wife backs out at the last minute; his journey takes an unexpected turn after he befriends an impoverished activist. Principal photography for the film began in Ontario, Canada, on April 1, 2016.
The film premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 22, 2017. It was a box-office bomb, grossing only $55 million against a production budget of $68–76 million, and received mixed reviews from critics. Nevertheless, it was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2017, while Chau earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.