‘Megalopolis’ is Visually Stunning and Intellectually Confusing

Megalopolis

★ ★

This is more of a fever dream than a movie. It’s vivid and visually stunning. It is extremely confident in its presentation.

It’s also kind of boring.

Megalopolis is a film about politicians and city leaders, and is so entrenched in its own politics, it forgets to tell a compelling story or create characters we can feel sympathetic to.

It’s an imagining of New York City as a type of Roman empire in the United States. The city is called New Rome and is crumbling under current leadership, led by Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito).

Adam Driver and Natalie Emmanuel
© 2024 Lionsgate

Cicero finds himself at odds with up-and-coming visionary Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver), who is a bit of a celebrity as he leads the city’s design authority. Cesar is gaining in popularity as he has a plan to turn the city into something new and glorious. What exactly that is, I’m still not exactly sure.

When Cesar catches the eye of the Mayor’s daughter, socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Eammnuel), they both find their loyalties divided on what the city, and ultimately humanity, needs. This also complicates their relationships with the mayor.

Giancarlo Esposito in Megalopolis
© 2024 Lionsgate

I imagine this is meant to be an allegory for modern-day American culture and how it threatens the downfall of society. Megalopolis presents a world where the powers-that-be hold tight to the old ways of running things, fueled by greed, warfare amongst partisan values, special interests and the false importance of famous people.

The performances come off as if the actors are on stage in a high school drama. I’m not sure if it’s bad dialogue, dialogue badly delivered or some similar combination. It’s rather disappointing given the high level of talent involved.

A Flower Stand in Megalopolis
© 2024 Lionsgate

The most convincing performance comes from Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum, a famous television entertainment reporter. She’s power hungry and will use her conniving personality and sexual prowess to unscrupulously claw her way to the top. Wow is an unapologetic, unflinching character.

She’s the most interesting part of this film, and I wish there were more of it. Plaza is who shines the brightest in this film. She’s wickedly devilish and there’s something familiar about her. Even if we don’t want to, we can connect with her.

Is this a good movie? I didn’t hate it, but I also wanted it to end.

Adam Driver in Megalopolis
© 2024 Lionsgate

I anticipate this film will misfire at the box office, which won’t bode well for writer and director Francis Ford Coppola, who put more than $100 million of his own fortune into it.

When the credits roll, the reaction is kind of like waking up from a wild, strange, vivid dream. You say to yourself, “What the heck was that?” Then you get out of bed, start your day and forget about it.

Maybe someday someone much smarter than I will make sense of this film and write their doctoral dissertation on it so the rest of us can understand. Until then, I’ll chalk it up as an interesting, yet forgettable, experience and go about the rest of my day.

Drama, Sci-Fi