A genius artist with the power to stop time fights an arch-conservative mayor to save the dying modern world and inspire hope; told as a Roman Epic fable.
Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor's daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves. The most ambitious project of his career, “re-written up to 300 times in 40 years.” That is to say that Megalopolis, a visionary work and humanist tale, is something important for Francis Ford Coppola.