Wherever you go there you are
After a scientific breakthrough where scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to overpopulation, Paul (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to throw caution to the wind and downsize themselves in order to build a better life for themselves. After doing so, Paul learns that the key to happiness and contentment is a little closer to home.
Downsizing asks two questions: What gives life meaning and where does it come from? Paul embarks upon becoming small because he feels stuck in place, as if his life is going nowhere. Upon his integration into life as a miniaturized person, he finds that his dissatisfaction at his lot in life remains and Leisureland is not, as its tagline says, where the grass is greener. Audrey’s last minute decision to abandon their plan has left him struggling financially at Leisureland, just as he had been in Omaha; he’s still working a job beneath his capabilities and education, this time doubly so, and he’s alone with no one by his side.
It’s not until Paul has a chance meeting with his neighbor Ducon’s (Christoph Waltz) cleaning lady Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) that Paul begins to find some semblance of meaning. Tran is a dissident from Vietnam, who had her foot cut off and was forcibly downsized as punishment for her protestations against the government. Despite her tough backstory, she has taken it upon herself to help as many of the poor and destitute in the hidden slums of Leisureland as she can. After botching repair of Tran’s foot, Paul assists her in her everyday life, providing what medical advice he can to those in need as well as cleaning houses alongside Tran. Though this goes on longer than anticipated, Paul finally has some sense of purpose and is interacting with people again. The change had to come through a shift in Paul’s mindset, not the setting in which he lived. In the film’s climax when Paul must chose between staying with Tran or preparing for the end times with a small people colony, he chooses to stay behind. He had been searching for the right environment to blend into and derive greatness from instead of shaping the ones which he was already inhabiting into something great.
I also found interesting the statement that the film made about human nature’s propensity for cruelty. Leisureland is sold to the world as a utopia for those who choose to go small, providing a life of luxury for its inhabitants while saving the larger world around it. Society’s issues of inequality, greed, and class/racial stratification end up following humanity to its new size experiment. The process of downsizing is used by despotic regime against those they deem enemies, as we see with Tran, while poorer countries such as Mexico use substandard downsizing techniques that result in death and the lack of a nest egg for those headed for what they think are greener pastures. As a result, those that make it end up poor and forced to work for richer small people who insulated from seeing their plight and care little to know about it; basically a carbon copy of what we see in everyday life. The portrayal of this phenomenon in the film poses an interesting “chicken or the egg” question about the problems of human society. Are they systemic or are they a byproduct of human behavior that are destined to surface wherever humans choose to settle? I was left wishing this had been the conduit through which the film’s theme of change coming from within rather than our surroundings was explored instead of Paul’s personal journey.
Matt Damon does a capable job as the lead, portraying a simple Midwestern man yearning for a better life. The disappointment and inadequacy Paul feels is palpable and something the viewer can feel. Hong Chau’s performance is the standout however, deftly presenting the perseverance through pain and struggle that define Tran. Her continual belief in people, particularly Paul, makes her a compelling watch and Chau displays this perfectly. Despite her great acting as the character, the character herself does come with some feeling of the “Magical/Helpful Negro” trope, with an Asian in place of an African-American. Despite Tran’s compelling backstory, the character comes off as just being in service to Paul finding himself with little development for her. This problem is a real disservice to Chau’s performance which is one of the year’s standouts.
Downsizing is a decent film that generically touches on the “happiness comes from how you live your life” mantra while only scratching the surface on the more interesting examination of the nature of humankind. The film begins to make statements on these things then abandons them in the latter half of the film for a run of the mill “Will he choose love and go or stay and let her leave?” story. Hong Chau gives a top notch performance in an otherwise forgettable movie. The idea is there but it couldn’t not rise above bland fair into something more memorable.
Image: Paramount Pictures
