Downsizing trailer sees Matt Damon shrink himself down to live large

Alexander Payne's first foray into sci-fi has screened at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals

Alexander Payne's new film makes a rather ingenious proposal for solving problems of overpopulation: instead of downsizing our lives, why not downsize ourselves?

Downsizing sees Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig play a lower middle class couple who take advantage of a radical new surgery cooked up by a Norwegian scientist, shrinking themselves to the size of a Saltine cracker so that they can conserve resources and live luxuriously on a budget.

This marks the Sideways and Nebraska director's first foray into science-fiction, utilising the film's whimsical premise to say something deeper about our social and economic anxieties.

The film's made its way straight through the festival circuit, enjoying a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival after its premiere at Venice.

Its reception from critics has been largely positive so far, with many commenting that, though Payne's ambitions may have widened, he still retains his sharp sense of observation and humanity. Others, however, don't see the film's central concept capable of being stretched into a feature film.

Downsizing will hit UK cinemas 19 January.