It is 2154 and the world is a dump. Literally.
If you haven’t seen the movie with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster lately—or ever—you might be surprised by how much it feels like a documentary from the future. It’s called Elysium. It came out in 2013, directed by Neill Blomkamp, the guy who did District 9.
The premise is basically "what if the 1% moved to a giant luxury donut in space?" Meanwhile, everyone else is stuck in a dusty, overpopulated Los Angeles that looks suspiciously like a massive landfill. Matt Damon plays Max, a blue-collar guy with a shaved head and a lot of bad luck. Jodie Foster is Delacourt, a defense secretary who speaks in a weird, unplaceable accent and has zero empathy for the "plebs" on the ground.
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What is Elysium actually about?
Most people remember the cool robot suits. You know, the metal skeletons screwed directly into Matt Damon’s bones.
But the movie is really about healthcare and borders. In the world of Elysium, the wealthy live on a space station where every house has a "Med-Pod." These things are magical. You lie down, a light sweeps over you, and boom—your cancer is gone. Your broken bones are fused. You’re young again.
Down on Earth? You’re lucky if you get a bottle of expired pills for a lethal dose of radiation.
That’s exactly what happens to Max. He’s a former car thief trying to go straight, working a soul-crushing factory job at Armadyne. A workplace accident leaves him with five days to live. His only hope is to get to the space station. To do that, he has to team up with a shady smuggler named Spider, get a cybernetic exoskeleton bolted to his body, and steal data from a billionaire's brain.
It's a high-stakes heist, basically.
Why Jodie Foster’s performance was so divisive
Honestly, Foster’s role as Secretary Delacourt is one of the strangest things in her career. She’s cold. She’s calculated. And that voice?
Critics at the time were baffled by her accent. It’s a mix of French, British, and maybe a bit of South African? Some people hated it. They thought it was "cartoonish." But if you think about it, a super-exclusive colony in space would probably develop its own weird, elitist way of speaking. It’s like "Old Money" from the future.
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She represents the ultimate gatekeeper. While Max is just trying to survive, she’s busy trying to stage a coup to take over the station and make it even more exclusive. She doesn't see the people on Earth as humans; she sees them as "illegals" or "bugs." It’s a brutal, cynical performance that makes her one of the more underrated sci-fi villains of the 2010s.
The Matt Damon transformation
Matt Damon went through a lot for this.
He was 42 at the time and had to spend four hours a day in the gym to look like a hardened convict. Neill Blomkamp actually had a picture of a buff guy and just photoshopped Damon’s head onto it to show him what he wanted. Damon saw it and basically said, "Okay, I guess I'm hitting the weights."
He brings a lot of "everyman" charm to Max, which helps because Max isn't always a hero. At the start, he’s selfish. He’s not trying to save the world; he’s just trying to not die in five days. That feels real. Who wouldn't be desperate if their internal organs were literally melting?
The tech that almost felt real
One of the reasons this movie with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster still looks so good is the production design.
- The Exoskeleton: The HULC suit Max wears was designed by WETA Workshop (the Lord of the Rings people). It looks dirty, greasy, and mechanical. It doesn't look like a sleek Iron Man suit. It looks like something built in a garage.
- The Med-Pods: These were modeled after MRI machines to make them feel "medically familiar" to the audience.
- The Space Station: The design is based on a "Stanford Torus," a real concept for a space habitat proposed by NASA in the 1970s. It’s 60 miles across and houses about half a million people.
Blomkamp used a lot of practical effects and shot on location in the slums of Mexico City to get that gritty, lived-in feel for Earth. Then he contrasted it with the pristine, Beverly Hills-inspired look of the space station. The visual gap between the two worlds is massive.
What most people get wrong about the ending
People often complain that the ending is too "simple" or "naive." Without spoiling too much for the three people who haven't seen it, the movie ends with a big software update that changes everything.
But does it?
Sure, it grants everyone citizenship and sends down medical ships. But it doesn't solve the fact that Earth is still a polluted mess with no resources. It’s a "band-aid" ending. It’s hopeful, but if you look at the world they built, the struggle is probably just beginning. The movie isn't saying "and then everyone lived happily ever after." It's saying "at least they have a chance now."
Actionable Takeaways for Sci-Fi Fans
If you're going to revisit Elysium or watch it for the first time, keep an eye on these things:
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- Watch the background details on Earth. The graffiti, the droids, and the tech are all incredibly detailed. It’s world-building at its best.
- Compare it to District 9. You can see the evolution of Blomkamp's style. He loves the "shaky cam" and the "gritty sci-fi" aesthetic.
- Pay attention to Sharlto Copley. He plays the mercenary Kruger, and he's absolutely terrifying. He steals every scene he's in, arguably more than the lead stars.
- Check out the 4K version. Sony released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray a few years back that looks incredible. The HDR really makes the contrast between the dusty Earth and the bright space station pop.
Whether you love it or think it's a bit too "on the nose" with its politics, there's no denying that this movie with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster left a mark on the genre. It's a rare big-budget, R-rated sci-fi original that actually tried to say something.
Next Step: Check out the "The Art of Elysium" book if you're into concept art. It shows just how much work went into designing the Bugatti shuttles and the robot police forces before a single frame was ever shot.