“Megalopolis” it’s a life project Francis Ford Coppola. The director had been working on it for the last few decades. A huge obstacle to starting the production were financial problems, which were solved in an unconventional way. Coppola, instead of looking for people who would put money on the film, ultimately decided to finance the production from his own funds.
The story takes place in a futuristic society based on the Roman Empire, which is facing the consequences of a huge catastrophe. The main character is Caesar (played by Adam Driver), an architect who must reconcile his idealism with the demands of the authorities.
Coppola also wrote the screenplay for “Megalopolis.” The film’s budget was approximately $120 million. In addition to Driver, the production also stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Forest Whitaker, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishbourne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dustin Hoffman.
Bilge Ebiri of Vulture called “Megalopolis” “absolute madness” and “the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen.” “There’s nothing in ‘Megalopolis’ that we’ve seen before in ‘regular’ movies. It has its own logic, rhythm, and language.”
“As long as there are people in the world who love engaged cinema and wonder about the last 6,000 years of our civilization, this film will have its audience,” wrote David Fear of Rolling Stone.
Indiewire’s David Ehrlich wrote on X that “Megalopolis” is “a garish, epic, and utterly unique $120 million self-portrait that is both a fable about the fall of ancient Rome and an attempt to save our civilization (and its cinema) from itself.” He admitted that he is a huge fan of the film.
Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian called “Megalopolis” “meganabove and meganauseous”. “A passion project that is devoid of passion, (…) a surprisingly shallow film, full of high school truths about the future of humanity”.
Screen Daily’s Tim Grierson called it a “disaster.” “It’s a lifetime’s work gone terribly wrong,” wrote Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson. He said a few people will appreciate Coppola’s work, but most viewers will be left scratching their heads and wondering what the point was. “The most trashy of trash movies, a bunch of Coppola inspirations thrown together at random. What’s really surprising is how stale the production is.”
“It’s 138 mind-numbing minutes of ill-considered themes, unfinished scenes, performances as irritating as fingernails on a chalkboard, word salad dialogue and ugly images, all in search of a story that isn’t there.” – Kevin Maher of the Times is also not a fan of the film.
David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter stated that “Megalopolis” is not a good film, but it is not one to be indifferent to. “I can’t say that I was engaged throughout the two-hour runtime, but I was always curious about where it would go.”