In 'Downsizing,' A New Addition To The Large History Of Tiny People In Film
Alexander Payne's new film is about a couple who are made tiny as part of a solution to overpopulation. It's the latest in a long line of movies that revel in the cinematic joy of people shrinking.
The long — and admittedly odd — tradition of people shrinking in the movies goes back at least to 1901, with a silent film called The Dwarf and the Giant. The most recent is the new movie, Downsizing, directed by Alexander Payne (Election, The Descendants). In between is an entire canon, ranging from Fantastic Voyage, to Innerspace, to Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.
The fascination with making people small on the big screen makes sense to
