Year-End Movie Reviews in for All the Money in the World, Pitch Perfect 3, Downsizing

Year-End Movie Reviews in for All the Money in the World, Pitch Perfect 3, Downsizing With a Christmas Day release date, director Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World finds itself among a string of strong year-end film releases, earning an onslaught of positive reviews. All the Money in the World stars Michelle Williams as Gail, a mother who is desperately trying to pay off a ransom after her son (portrayed by Charlie Plummer) is abducted. To cultivate such a large sum of money, Gail sets her sights on persuading her son’s extremely wealthy grandfather (portrayed by Christopher Plummer) to do so. The problem? He’s resistant to do so. The latest movie reviews for All the Money in the World largely praised Williams for her authentic and enduring performance, as well as Charlie Plummer for emulating the raw and heightened senses of fear and isolation that would naturally come with being a victim of abduction.

Coming to its conclusion at the end of the year is the Pitch Perfect franchise, which followed a collegiate acapella group of misfits led by Anna Kendrik’s Becca. Within its latest movie reviews, the most prominently mentioned pitfall of the film lies within its plot. As Pitch Perfect 3presents the women of the acapella group as college graduates leading independent lives, the sense of camaraderie and collegiate antics that peppered comedic moments throughout the first two films have largely been lost. As reviews have highlighted, it is difficult to continue a franchise about a college acapella group when its core characters, well, are no

longer in college. However, latest movie reviews have also offered praise for the film’s continued celebration of female friendships.

Among the string of year-end releases is Downsizing, an Alexander Payne directed comedy that stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. As alluded by the title, the film centers on Damon’s character, Paul, as he undergoes a procedure to shrink himself to only a few inches tall - a fad that has developed among his community. The film highlights that the main appeal of “downsizing” lies in the luxurious idea of one’s problems shrinking in tandem. However, as Paul finds out over the course of the film, that isn’t quite the case. The latest movie reviews for Downsizing have commented on the fact that this precise plot point is riddled with pitfalls, for Paul’s process of realizing the permanency of personal and societal issues - regardless of size results in too many of these issues being jammed into a film that simply isn’t equipped to thoroughly address them all at once.