Megalopolis seems to be one of those “love it or hate it” films. Sitting at 49% on Rotten Tomatoes right now:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/megalopolis

So of course I had to see it to make up my own mind about it.

It is a brilliant, beautiful film, that likely nobody will “get” for 10 years or so, and by the time they do get it, all the societal and political references will be so dated, it will need footnotes, much in the same way that Gulliver’s Travels needs footnotes today.

https://studycorgi.com/satire-in-gullivers-travels-by-jonathan-swift/

The film is probably 75% Shakespearian archetypes, to the point where I could point out “Ok, that character is from x, this character is from y” and that’s before Caesar quotes the entire “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy from Hamlet.

The remaining 25% is kind of an inverted “Atlas Shrugged”, where the main character invents a miracle building material, but instead of squirrling it away for his own private enrichment, dedicates himself to using it to build a city of the future to benefit everyone.

Adam Driver plays Caesar, Inventor and Architect

Giancarlo Esposito plays Cicero, mayor of New Rome and chief antagonist to Caesar

Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia, Cicero’s daughter. Goes to work for Caesar to get back at dad, falls in love.

Jon Voight as Crassus, 80+ year old media mogul and financier. Kingmaker.

Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum, very blonde “news” host. Initially involved with Caesar, marries the 3x older Crassus.

Shia LeBeouf as Clodio, Crassus’ money hungry grandson, cousin to Caesar. Has hated Caesar since they were kids.

I’m not going to lie, there are parts of the film that are VERY hard to wrap your brain around, particularly when Caesar goes on a drug and alcohol fueled bender.

Overall, I loved the look and feel of the film, feel the need to watch it again, there are parts that I need to freeze frame when it inevitably is available at home.

For references, Crassus is very clearly Rupert Murdoch with all of his potential heirs cutting each others throats for a slice of the empire. Bonus for the creepy marriage to a much younger wife.

Clodio is clearly Trump, down to the fascist symbolism, populist messaging, and “Make America Great Again”.