Downsizing: Matt Damon considers a drastic lifestyle change in new clip

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

Alexander Payne's latest offers a rather ingenious proposal for solving all our problems: why not downsize is very literal sense?

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 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.

In a new clip, we see Matt Damon's character consulting a friend (played by Jason Sudeikis) over the decision whether to downsize or not, taking in its financial implications and its potential impact on the environment - plus you get to live in a really, really big house.

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 24 January.

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