Megalopolis is a fun, yet tiring, memorable film with a good heart.

Megalopolis is a movie that at times comes off as random and after two and a quarter hours it doesn’t get old but it can be tiring. For a movie that struggles to find or stay on a single narrative at any given time, it doesn’t exactly find any lulls but it feels like it will never end.

It’s a movie that has grand scenes like a wedding and a virgin auction in Madison Square Garden, or a satellite crashing into Earth, but it’s a movie that struggles to turn it all into one story. When I left the theater I asked myself how many movies could that all have been? But, to the credit of Megalopolis, it doesn’t obscure the overall message of the film. This is the main reason I think I left the theatre a little confused, but with a good feeling in my stomach.

Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel pair well together but the lack of single narrative in the film makes it hard to make sense of their performance throughout the movie. Sometimes it’s a movie about rivalry and sometimes it’s a movie about a dramatic relationship but the film never takes a side. The suspense never culminates and neither does the drama because the movie goes in too many different directions.

Shia LaBeouf has a good performance and so does Audrey Plaza. I thought Giancarlo Esposito, character had surprising depth for a role that come off as shallow by the end of the film and Voight was the star of the show whenever he was onscreen. They all shared the same problem which they were all stars in their role during a disjointed motion picture. The cast lacked cohesiveness in a way that reflected the film itself.

My own interpretation of Megalopolis is that it was an ultimately optimistic film that went in too many directions as a movie. I felt during the movie – and thought by the end – that it shouldn’t be taken too seriously although it can be quite dramatic at times. The message of Megalopolis is worth it but the movie as a whole has some unintentionally funny moments and there’s a charm and humor that could go missed if a viewer goes in taking the film too seriously altogether. For these reasons, I actually think the Megalopolis might appeal more to younger viewers, if only it were about forty minutes shorter. For me, I enjoyed the optimism of the film but I typically prefer a more cohesive storyline