no clear direction in this film

I should first point out that not having a clear direction is not necessarily a bad thing.
I do feel like this film tried to tackle too many themes and premises without a goal line in sight.

Here is the thing, if there was no scifi downsizing bit in this film, I'd say this was a pretty decent drama film. If this film focused on the scifi downsizing bit, I'd say this could be a pretty neat scifi film (this bit was largely unexplored, so you'd need a lot more quality content for this to be the case).

There were a few comedy bits - but then there was also a fair amount of drama (I must admit, Damon's acting in the dramatic scenes felt pretty darn wooden).

At the end of the day, after having seen this film, I'm really not sure what to make of it. I can't say it was a good film - but I also can't say it was a bad film - and I'm not entirely sure what this film wanted to be. It tried to tackle too many themes - too many film genres - and it came out as being none.

Spoilers below:




My train of thought as I was watching this film.
Downsizing bit comes up - I'm thinking, cool, this could be a great scifi comedy (the music implied this was a comedy).

Damon character gets divorced - I'm thinking, OK - this could be some sort of drama/comedy in a sci fi setting.

Damon goes through a tunnel and sees the slums - I'm thinking...errr... OK, screw everything I've said before, I guess this film now wants to serve as a statement about social injustice, and become a detective thriller where the corruption of this paradise world gets exposed.

Damon character meets up with 'end of the world' cult people - I'm thinking: OK - I have no idea what this film wants to be anymore.