I love movies with abstract imagery and themes. Usually I can piece things together and figure out what the film is trying to say, but not Megalopolis.

Like, what was Megalopolis (the in-film construction project) supposed to represent? It was one guy's vision for a better future that he was going to build no-matter what. Fine! But then Adam Driver's character makes a big speech at the ribbon ceremony about how we need to start a conversation about the future. What conversation? The guy never listened to anyone else during the film! Maybe his wife?

Why was everything wrapped up in the names and imagery of late Roman republic? To imply that American society is reaching an end of its current unsustainable phase. Ok, but then you name Adam Driver's character after the guy who turned Rome into a militarist principate. So what better future should we be looking towards?

What was the whole deal with Carthage, the crumbling Soviet satellite which destroyed part of the city? The Megalopolis project only got underway when the destruction cleared out a chunk of New Rome, so are we to assume that our bold conversation about the futute can only happen when the once-forgotten ghost of Communism smashes America? But then the satellite's crash has no impact on anything except some buildings. The mayor doesn't face any problems as leader during or after this disaster, and the MAGA-coded villains don't really change tactics either. Adam Driver's plans are obviously helped by this, but he already had buy-in from the Mayor. It's not like the disaster was some catalyst for change, but rather a convenience so we don't have to watch Adam Driver finger-snap another building demolition.

Megalopolis threw a lot of ideas on the screen, but I kept waiting for a payoff that never arrived.