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Megalopolis Movie Review

Megalopolis is a 2024 epic science fiction drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Adam Driver. It’s a messy, but artistically inclined experiment.

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“Don’t let the now destroy the forever“

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The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved. This movie was in development hell for decades until Coppola eventually decided to finance it himself, which I personally find to be admirable. This is his passion project and nobody can take that away from him.

But the final product is decidedly a mixed bag. The overall storyline is ripe with historical references and allusions along with containing numerous cinema history touches. This made it a rich intertextual experience, but far from an engaging or mainstream one. The film is too long, slow and hastily paced and written that it’s difficult to be fully invested in it.

Adam Driver took his role quite seriously and he’s the acting highlight for sure. Giancarlo Esposito is reliably terrific in another memorable turn. But other performers were inferior as they ranged from forgettable (Nathaniel Emmanuel) to overly theatrical and over-the-top (Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf). I appreciated that he cast actors who are controversial in Hollywood, but the movie has way too many characters to properly develop them all.

Megalopolis is a lavish production. The cinematography is fantastic and the score from Osvaldo Golijov is absolutely incredible, very modern and quite elegant. The movie is atmospheric, fantastical and featuring impressive world building and production design. It mixes the old with the new, creating this Ancient Roman version of NYC that is undeniably quite appealing. The SF elements were especially inviting, but rarely thoroughly explored.

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Rome standing for America and art versus politics are some themes explored here, but the movie is so overpopulated with ideas, characters and visual flourishes that it never quite flowed well or felt fully realized in story or messaging. I admired the originality and cinematic qualities on display, but coherence and discipline were sorely missing from this production.