‘Megalopolis’: Best And Worst Reviews Of Francis Ford Coppola’s Epic

Francis Ford Coppola's big-budget sci-fi drama Megalopolis has sharply divided critics as the film prepares to open in theaters Friday.

Megalopolis held its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Per IndieWire, Coppola self-financed the $120 million film, which was picked up for distribution by Lionsgate Films in June.

The film’s official synopsis reads, “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare.

“Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor's daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”

Written and directed by Coppola, Megalopolis stars Adam Driver as Caesar, Giancarlo Esposito as Franklyn and Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia.

Also starring in Megalopolis are Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter and Dustin Hoffman.

Some of the reviews for Megalopolis originated out of Cannes following the film’s premiere. To date, Rotten Tomatoes critics have collectively given Megalopolis a 52% “rotten” rating based on 83 reviews—a number that will surely expand as more critics gain access to the movie.

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What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Megalopolis’?

Several of the individual reviews by top Rotten Tomatoes critics specifically mention Francis Ford Coppola, who not only directed but wrote Megalopolis.

Among the “fresh” reviews by RT critics, Barry Hertz of the Globe and Mail writes, “Megalopolis might be Coppola’s decades-in-the-making passion project, an epic of ambition and imagination, but it is also a magnificent mess of a masterpiece, as irredeemably silly as it is sincerely sublime.”

In addition, Iana Murray of GQ UK writes, “Very little of Megalopolis makes sense, but it’s nonetheless fascinating to watch the story of a man playing god against all odds and witness Coppola attempt the very same. It is ludicrous and awe-inspiring. Most importantly, it is never boring.”

New Yorker film critic Justin Chang also lauds Coppola, noting, “After a thirteen-year absence, a great American director returns with an ambitious vision of a city—and a world—in need of renewal.”

In his review for Variety, Peter DeBruge writes, “Megalopolis is anything but lazy, and while so many of the ideas don’t pan out as planned, this is the kind of late-career statement devotees wanted from the maverick, who never lost his faith in cinema.”

On the other side of the critical spectrum, some of RT’s top reviewers are harsh in their “rotten” takes on Megalopolis. Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly gives the film an F grade, noting, “The film may be set in the future but its views on sexuality, men and women, and power are hopelessly stuck in the past.”

Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson was also critical This is the junkiest of junk-drawer movies, a slapped-together hash of Coppola’s many disparate inspirations. What really tanks the movie, though, is its datedness.”

Toronto Star critic Peter Howell also slams Megalopolis. Noting Coppola’s past glories, Howell writes, “It’s hard to believe the same brilliant director who made The Godfather, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now also birthed this monstrosity, which is wrong in so many ways, from its insipid screenplay and terrible direction to its bizarre casting.”

Meanwhile, BBC online critic Nicholas Barber, writes of Megalopolis, “It's like listening to someone tell you about the crazy dream they had last night – and they don't stop talking for well over two hours.”

Megalopolis plays in Thursday previews before it opens in theaters and on IMAX screens nationwide.