Shia LaBeouf’s new film debuts with terrible score on Rotten Tomatoes-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Shia LaBeouf stars as the populist character Clodius in Megalopolis (Picture: Getty)

Megalopolis, starring Shia LaBeouf and Adam Driver, debuted at Cannes Film Festival to harsh reviews and a tragically low review score.

The epic sci-fi film is set in an alternate modern-day New York where architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) dreams of building the city into a utopia but his ambitions are challenged by Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito).

From acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola, the ‘Roman Epic fable’ has been in the early stages of production since the 1980s. Coppola’s $120million (£94million) passion project finally had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival.

Despite the forty-year process, the crude, vulgar, at times incestuous, and fast-paced extravaganza seems to have landed far from perfection.

According to festival reports, the film received a seven-minute-long standing ovation with a mixture of applause and booing.

It initially debuted on the official film review site Rotten Tomatoes at a mere 38%, before slowly climbing to a controversial 50% at the time of writing.

A shockingly low score for a film packed with star talent including LaBeouf, Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.

The Metro.co.uk review dubbed it ‘one of the worst films I’ve ever seen’, adding: ‘Megalopolis is by far the most startling, grand and at times incomprehensible film that [Coppola has] made.’

This is a sharp departure from the fan hype around the film after the trailer dropped earlier this month in which Megalopolis was called ‘already the greatest movie ever made’ and his ‘best work’.

The movie plummeted as low as 38% on Rotten Tomatoes (Picture: Zhivko Mironov)

There are many larger-than-life sequences involved in the high-budget film (Picture: American Zoetrope)

This is the first feature-length project LaBeouf has appeared in since his lead role 2022 biopic Padre Pio as the titular Italian priest.

In the film the 37-year-old Hollywood actor stars as Cesar’s antagonistic cousin Clodio, known for sleeping with his sisters. He takes up his own offensive against the architect, cleaving the city’s inhabitants even further apart.

The decadent, ancient Rome-inspired romp has a bitterly divided reception.

The Times offered up a measly one-star review, labelling the film a ‘head-wrecking abomination’.

Mixed reviews have dubbed it an ‘abomination’ (Picture: Zhivko Mironov)

‘This is 138 stultifying minutes of ill-conceived themes, half-finished scenes, nails-along-the-blackboard performances, word-salad dialogue and ugly visuals all seemingly in search of a story that isn’t there,’ the reviewer concluded.

The Daily Beast described the production as ‘stilted, earnest, over the top, CGI ridden, and utterly a mess’ ultimately destined to become a ‘cult classic’.

Meanwhile, the Guardian slammed Coppola’s vision, describing it as a ‘passion project without passion’.

The review continued: ‘[it’s] a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future.’

Many reviewers seemed just as conflicted as the down-the-middle Rotten Tomatoes score.

Clodio becomes the face of the populist movement (Picture: Zhivko Mironov)

‘Is it a good movie? Not by a long stretch. But it’s not one that can be easily dismissed, either,’ Hollywood Reporter posed.

While the Los Angeles Times concluded that once the audience let go of another Coppola ‘masterpiece’ (such as the Godfather Trilogy), ‘there is much to enjoy in Megalopolis, especially its cast members, leaning into their moments with an abandon that was probably a job requirement’.

There were a handful who thoroughly enjoyed the movie. ‘He’s done it again, and perhaps exceeded himself. Megalopolis might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,’ Vulture remarked.

Despite the poor score given the eye-watering budget, the 85-year-old director has no regrets about splurging hundreds of millions of dollars.

‘I don’t care. I never cared,’ he said. ‘I put the risk in the movie. I have no problems with the financials.

‘My children, without exceptions, have wonderful careers without a fortune. They don’t need a fortune.

‘It’s how I felt the film should be, and I was paying for it…. There are so many people who, when they die, say, “I wish I had done that.” When I die, I’ll say, “I got to do that”.’

There is currently no release date for Megalopolis.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More