After over forty years in production, including rewrites, recasts, location changes, and nearly twenty movies made in the meantime, Francis Ford Coppola’s long-promised magnum opus is finally out. Megalopolis is divisive. It is enormous, cinematic, and a mess. The sci-fi drama piles idea upon idea until the whole structure loses coherence, turning a long-gestating passion project into something fascinating but unstable.
The plot follows architect Caesar Catilina, played by Adam Driver, as he tries to rebuild a Roman-themed New York City after a disaster using a material called Megalon. The film never bothers to explain what Megalon actually is. Opposing him is the mayor, Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who despises him. Also in the mix are Catilina’s bitter cousin Clodio, Cicero’s daughter Julia, wealthy banker Crassus, and reporter Wow Platinum. This is only the core group. Many more characters enter the frame, making it a challenge to track the web of relationships, and the overload becomes a chore for the viewer.
The cast delivers uneven performances. Aubrey Plaza and Giancarlo Esposito command attention whenever they appear, while Shia LaBeouf and Nathalie Emmanuel are less consistent. Adam Driver divides audiences most of all, since Caesar’s role is the entire backbone of the film. Some of his moments, such as the wedding party sequence, are tremendous, while others, particularly scenes opposite Julia, fall flat. The acting is never outright bad, but it rarely reaches the level the film demands.
What does work, without qualification, are the visuals. Megalopolis looks extraordinary. Its effects and cinematography are stunning in nearly every scene, and the film is made for the big screen. The problem is that breathtaking visuals sit atop a weak, unstable narrative. Coppola throws everything at the world of New Rome: political conspiracies, family intrigue, murder, romance, even fraternity hazing. None of it fuses into a complete story. Plotlines begin and disappear without warning. Characters arrive, vanish, and reappear just in time to be killed. It feels like several different movies spliced together, none of which are fully developed, and immersion becomes impossible.
It is clear that this was a deeply personal project for Coppola. He conceived the idea in the 1970s during the making of Apocalypse Now. The script was not written until 1983. Plans to shoot in Rome in 1989 fell apart. Another attempt in 2007 collapsed. Real production finally began in 2023, and the decades-long gap between inspiration and execution shows in the film’s lack of unity. Funding issues pushed Coppola to invest $120 million of his own money, and the film has earned only about $5 million domestically, a tiny fraction of its cost. For almost any director, this would be catastrophic, but Coppola is not just any director. Still, the final product does not meet the hopes that surrounded it.
Megalopolis is a mind-bending experience, and each viewer will walk away with something different. Despite its many flaws, it is never dull, and it offers moments of genuine spectacle. One thing is certain. There will never be another movie quite like it.
