Imagine the plight of this planet a couple of decades hence — overpopulated to the extent of being almost uninhabitable, with dwindling resources and unmanageable waste. Scientists have been confounded.
But not Hollywood’s filmmakers. Director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor seem to have found the ultimate remedy.
The film opens somewhere in the future — Norwegian scientists working overtime in their lab have discovered that the only way out to solve this gigantic problem is to downsize people — reducing them to five inches, 250th their normal size. This way less space is required, valuable resources could be conserved and the dollar can go a long way.
Occupational therapist Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) from Omaha, having learnt of this irreversible procedure from their friend Dave Johnson  (Jason Sudeikis), and considering their modest means of living, decide to take the plunge and move to Leisureland — the commune for the downsized beings.
The second half of the film delves into a couple of subplots — Paul’s upstairs neighbour Dusan Mirkovic (Christoph Waltz), who throws lavish and obscene parties and views downsizing as a means to make a quick buck.
But the film’s  more captivating moments come with the arrival of Vietnamese amputee activist Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) who as punishment by her government was forced to undergo the physical shrinking. Ngoc, with a pronounced and unmistakable Thai accent  (Chau was raised in Thailand) single-handedly raises the film above mediocrity; although the continuous ‘F’ word,  at one stage, seems to have evaded the Indian censors’ aural faculties.
Director Alexander Payne, with an impressive filmography  (About Schmidt, Nebraska), after developing his characters well, seemed unsure of the denouement. Performances by the supporting cast are excellent, as is the music score by Rolfe Kent. In a film of this genre the production design is of utmost  importance and Stefania Cella has done  a worthy job. So is the cinematography  by Phedon Papamichael.