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Movie Review: Megalopolis

Mike Tyrkus

An epic film many years in the making, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is simultaneously perfect and also tremendously flawed. There is something powerful at work when a filmmaker as talented as Coppola attempts something as avant-garde as Megalopolis; conversely, there is another equally powerful possibility that the entire endeavor could go completely off the rails and end up a convoluted and befuddling vanity project – which, at times, it unfortunately does.

The film is set in an alternate reality wherein the Roman Empire never ceased to exist and instead spread across the globe. This re-imagined modern America however, is not immune from strife, as factions within the government seek to either retain power or seize it for themselves. Amidst all of this, an artist name Cesar Catlina (Adam Driver) seeks to push society forward to what he envisions as a progressive utopia. The opposition however, which includes existing Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) desperately wants to maintain the status quo and extend his own family’s influence. When the mayor’s daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), begins to fall in love with Cesar, everything starts to careen toward a complete and possibly unavoidable societal collapse.

In many ways, the film functions as a return to form for writer/direct Francis Ford Coppola in that it embraces his earlier experimental filmmaking attempts than the more straight-forward epics he is most revered for. Lurking within Megalopolis is a passion that the director hasn’t displayed so vividly since Apocalypse Now (1979). With that in mind, the problem is that unless the viewer embraces and assumes that same aesthetic approach, the whole endeavor could play like a giant vanity project.

On one level, it is just that – an profoundly gorgeous piece of work. There is plenty to see as the film is indeed beautiful thanks to Mihai Malaimare Jr.’s cinematography and the way in which ancient Rome is grafted into modern-day American via Lisa K. Sessions set decoration and Milena Canonero’s costumes adds to the visual feast provided by the film.

Shia LaBeouf in “Megalopolis.” Photo by Courtesy of Lionsgate/Courtesy of Lionsgate – © 2024 Lionsgate.

As Cesar Catalina, Adam Driver, holds his own throughout the film; shouldering a massive amount of the narrative weight. His one-time paramour, named Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), is equally as pervasive throughout the film as she seeks to solidify her hold on the empire in her own devious ways. When Cesar and Julia begin their romance and the two powerful families are on the verge of uniting, the future of the empire appears rock solid. But, then, that is always the way within literature that a great fall is precipitated by an even greater rise.

Francis Ford Coppola began the script for Megalopolis in 1983 and after a slew of false starts and delays, finally sold off several of his wineries to self-finance the film. As a labor of love Megalopolis is a wonder to behold – and if looked at through the prism of an older more experimental time in film history it probably fares a bit better; but, as a modern narrative it occasionally succumbs to its own heft and smothers its own greatness. Ultimately, there is a lot here to unpack and Megalopolis will perhaps be a film that proves more revered by future generations of critics and filmmakers than those at work today.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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