Megalopolis is overwhelmingly sincere but not that great

Being embarrassingly earnest is not a guarantee for success, and Megalopolis is the perfect example of a passion project that misses the mark. If every movie is a miracle, Megalopolis is less of a second coming and more of a moment of lucidness before succumbing to death.

The film stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina in a story that parallels the fall of Rome with the future of the United States. Set in a futuristic New York City renamed New Rome, Catilina is a revolutionary inventor who desires to make New Rome a better place through the the mass use and production of his new material, the Megalon. His desires are met with staunch resistance from the mayor, Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). After his mistress, Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), leaves him for his uncle — a wealthy, old CEO — Catilina forms a romantic relationship with Cicero’s daughter, Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel). The rest of the film follows Catilina and his struggle to build support for his policies. 

There’s no way to address the film in its entirety without bringing up the history behind its production — a history that is both alarming and impressive. Francis Ford Coppola has spent over 40 years working on this project since conceiving of the idea in 1983. The renowned filmmaker even borrowed $200 million against his stake in his own winery to finance the project. When the film was struggling to secure a distributor because of financial disputes, Lionsgate acquired the rights to be the distributor only after Coppola agreed to cover marketing costs. With its long-winded saga of development, it’s clear this was a huge labor of love from Coppola’s end. 

Regardless of how much Coppola has dedicated to Megalopolis, the film has been in the midst of several concerning controversies. Outside of casting alleged abuser Shia LaBeouf, who is set to be on trial later this month, or the release of a trailer which allegedly utilized generative AI to falsely quote film critics, Coppola has also been sued for alleged sexual harassment. The lawsuit was filed after Variety released an article claiming Coppola had behaved unprofessionally during production and that a video appeared to show Coppola kissing extras on set. In response, Coppola then sued Variety for libel. 

Considering the shallow and stereotypically misogynistic depictions of women in this film, the accounts of alleged misconduct on set are not entirely shocking. While you could argue the ditzy, gold-digger archetype that Wow Platinum portrays is actually being subverted, the narrative is simply not strong enough itself to back this claim. Julia’s character exists in a vacuum to support the protagonist, Catilina, and even this depiction has no ability to pique interest because even Catilina himself is grossly underdeveloped.

For a runtime of over two hours, the film should make a statement about society’s collapse — or anything — in a more compelling way than it does. Instead, there are pieces of what it attempts to address that don’t coherently hold together. The threat of a Soviet Union satellite, a society’s obsession with a teenage idol’s virginity and a murder mystery are all included as subplots, but they have zero payoff. Every character is played as if they’re in a different genre. Driver is completely genuine in his performance, which is jarring when he also has some of the most ridiculous dialogue. Plaza acts as if she’s in a black comedy, but Megalopolis takes itself too seriously for it to make sense. Laurence Fishburne, the film’s narrator, gives an oddly philosophical account of what is happening. The disjointed performances create a tonal mess heightened by the viewer’s inability to care about any of it.

The film does have its memorable parts. Whether it’s intentional or not, Megalopolis is hilarious. Driver might have delivered my favorite line of the year when he tells Julia that a year of medical school doesn’t entitle her to plow through the riches of his Emersonian mind. Plaza has a stellar performance as Wow Platinum; even if her character is one-dimensional, Plaza steals the show every time she’s on screen. 

The world-building is also unique. The sets are grand, and the detail Coppola has put into it is more proof of the care he has for this work. What is most captivating about the futuristic world he’s established is its contradictory nature. There’s not a cell phone in sight, but there are holograms that float in the air and chunky laptops in Catilina’s room. It’s New Rome, but the MetLife building still has its name on it. Characters drive Chevrolet cars while wearing togas. Even if it doesn’t quite work, the absurdity of it all is noteworthy. 

With the current state of cinema, where anything that isn’t guaranteed to produce massive box office profit is unlikely to receive big studio or executive funding, there most likely won’t be a film like this again. It is certainly one of a kind, but it’s also too ambitious for its own good. This is far from Coppola’s magnum opus, and it shouldn’t be the pinnacle of what cinema can do as a medium either. If the downfall of civilization is the result of man’s hubris, then the downfall of Megalopolis is all too fitting.