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Movie - Megalopolis (2024)

 

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Plot

In an alternate United States, New Rome is dominated by an elite group of patrician families. Although the Roman elite profess to live by a strict moral code, patricians decadently enjoy forbidden pleasures while ordinary Romans live in poverty.

Patrician architect Cesar Catilina[b] is one of New Rome's leading lights. Cesar wins the Nobel Prize for inventing the revolutionary building material Megalon. In addition, he secretly has the ability to stop time. He treats his superpower as a metaphor for the artistic process: when Cesar stops time, everyone else remains frozen. Despite Cesar's worldly success, he has fallen into alcoholism. Years earlier, his wife mysteriously disappeared, and District Attorney Franklyn Cicero[c] prosecuted him for murdering her. Although Cesar was acquitted, he remains crushed by guilt, believing that his wife committed suicide because he was too focused on his work. Cesar still pines for his wife, prompting his jealous mistress, TV presenter Wow Platinum, to leave him.

At a televised event, Cesar and now-Mayor Cicero offer different visions for the city's future. Cesar proposes using Megalon to build "Megalopolis", a utopian urbanist community, while Cicero argues that a casino will provide immediate tax revenue. During the event, Cesar meets Cicero's well-read but purposeless daughter Julia. Earlier, she watched Cesar stop time while a building was being demolished, but was still able to move. They both initially dislike each other, but Cesar impresses Julia with his vision for Megalopolis, explaining that New Rome needs a grand artistic vision to free itself from its political inertia and unlock its full potential. Later, when Cesar is unable to stop time as he once could, Julia encourages him to do so for her. They both discover that they are able to stop time when together, and the two become lovers.

Wow marries Cesar's uncle Hamilton Crassus III,[d] the world's richest man. Although Crassus likes his nephew, his mind and health are in decline, and he is easily manipulated by individuals like his other nephew, Clodio Pulcher,[e] who wants to inherit the Crassus bank. Crassus and Wow throw a decadent wedding reception. Ironically, the headliner is pop star Vesta Sweetwater, who appeals to New Rome's puritanical sensibilities by promising to remain chaste until marriage.[f] To neutralize Cesar, Pulcher leaks a paparazzi video of Cesar having sex with Vesta, prompting Cicero to condemn Cesar in a speech drawn from the real-life Catilinarian orations. Although Cicero arrests Cesar for statutory rape, Julia exonerates Cesar by discovering that Vesta faked her age and is actually in her twenties.

Soviet satellite Carthage crashes to Earth, destroying much of New Rome. Cesar begins building Megalopolis in the ruins, financing the project with his family fortune. In a press conference, he makes the case for bold artistic projects that show the people a better world is possible. However, the high cost of building Megalopolis contrasts with poverty on the streets. Pulcher becomes a populist politician, encouraging ordinary Romans to oppose Megalopolis as an expensive folly. The allure of power draws Pulcher from populism to fascist demagoguery.

A pregnant Julia tries to broker peace between Cesar and Cicero by taking her father to see the Megalopolis construction site, but Cicero is unimpressed with Cesar's utopianism. He begs Cesar to leave Julia. In exchange, he offers Cesar valuable blackmail material: a confession that Cicero knew Cesar's wife committed suicide and maliciously prosecuted Cesar anyway. Cesar declines. Pulcher hires an assassin to kill Cesar, but Cesar's doctors use Megalon to rebuild his skull.

Wow tries to force Cesar to leave Julia and marry her by freezing Cesar's account at the Crassus bank. She enlists Pulcher to manipulate Crassus into handing over control of the bank. When Crassus learns of Pulcher's duplicity, he has a stroke and collapses. Pulcher and Wow taunt the bedridden Crassus, but Crassus kills Wow and injures Pulcher with a hidden bow and arrow.

"I pledge allegiance to our human family, and to all the species that we protect. One Earth, indivisible, with long life, education and justice for all."

—The film ends with title card and voice narration read by children.

Cesar and Cicero become allies after rioting Pulcher supporters attempt to storm Megalopolis and City Hall. Cesar confronts the rioters, pleading with them to believe in his vision of a better future. His speech wins over the crowd, whose members hang Pulcher upside down.[g]

With renewed financial support from Crassus, Cesar finally completes Megalopolis. Cicero, holding Julia and Cesar's baby daughter, Sunny Hope, promises to help Cesar build a better future. On New Year's Eve, Julia stops time, but only Sunny Hope seems unaffected.

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