Paul Safranek is an affable occupational therapist who, hemmed in by money troubles, decides along with his wife to undergo a revolutionary scientific procedure: shrinking down to barely five inches tall. Miniaturization, conceived to combat overpopulation and save the planet, also promises an affordable life of luxury in scaled-down communities. But the dream goes awry and Paul discovers that even in a tiny world, inequality, loneliness and the great questions of what to do with one's life persist. A science-fiction satire from Alexander Payne, ambitious and melancholy, that begins as comedy and drifts into existential fable.