WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Megalopolis.
Julia becomes Cesar’s driving force in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. After brewing a storm of controversy after Lionsgate released a trailer with fabricated reviews by real-life critics and a decade-spanning development process, Megalopolis was finally released in theaters on September 27, 2024. Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola spent $120 million of his own fortune to produce the film, even selling part of his profitable wine empire to bring his long-awaited vision to life. Adam Driver leads the cast of Megalopolis as Cesar Catilina alongside Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shia LaBeouf.
Julia Cicero (Emmanuel), the daughter of Esposito’s Mayor Cicero, is Cesar’s primary love interest in Megalopolis. Cesar is the inventor and discoverer of a miraculous and groundbreaking substance known as Megalon, which allows him to perform and create all types of remarkable societal functions and products. It’s revealed that Julia is also able to harness some of Megalon’s abilities, although it’s not entirely clear how that is possible. Since Megalon is best described as the ambiguous source of Cesar’s love and vision for the future manifested into a physical substance, it seemed as though he would be the only one who could wield its powers, which include stopping time.
Megalopolis
is now playing in theaters.
Julia Stopped Time In Megalopolis’ Ending With Megalon Powers
Only Cesar and his loved ones can harness the power of Megalon
At the end of Megalopolis, Julia uses the powers of Megalon to stop time. It’s evident that she now has Cesar’s powers as well from the Megalon, so it is not only something that Cesar alone can harness. It does appear that only Cesar and his loved ones can harness the power of Megalon. It is never determined in the film whether citizens of Megalopolis will be able to access the powers of Megalon as well, which would be a major question that a potential sequel would be forced to answer. Still, considering that Megalon’s magical and seemingly infinite abilities stem from Cesar’s pool of inspiration, it makes sense that Julia, his muse, shares his powers.
Cesar inexplicably loses his ability to control time partway through the film but is able to harness these powers again through his love for Julia. At the end of Megalopolis, after Julia and Cesar have a baby, it appears that the child is immune to Julia’s manipulation of time and space, hinting that Cesar’s heir is even more powerful than he is and perhaps is infused with Megalon himself. Both Megalopolis and Cesar’s baby were made from the same source, his hopes and dreams, which are physically manifested as the substance Megalon. Because the city is portrayed as a vision of a future world, perhaps Cesar’s child is meant to represent the future of humanity.
How Long Did Julia Have Megalon Powers?
Julia’s Megalon powers grew alongside her relationship with Cesar
Julia could have been able to harness Megalon’s powers all along but perhaps waited until the final moment of Megalopolis to reveal her true abilities. At first, when Julia meets Cesar at his home, Julia piques Cesar’s curiosity as she takes an intricate interest in the workings of his vision for his utopia. Cesar’s source of inspiration, aka Megalon, becomes inaccessible to him through his rampant drug use and various attempts by LaBeouf’s Clodio Pulcher to assassinate his character. As Cesar and Julia become closer and more connected throughout the film, Julia reemerges when all hope is gone and Cesar is able to harness the powers of Megalon again.
Since all of Megalon’s roads lead to Cesar, it appears that Julia’s ability to harness Megalon’s powers comes directly from her connection with Cesar’s mind, heart, and spirit. The deeper her true connection is with Cesar, the more she is able to assume the powers of Megalon, which seems to have its own type of sentient presence and knowledge as a mysterious and miraculous force. In this way, Cesar was “chosen” to discover and harness Megalon. Julia, by proxy, was also anointed in a sense to assume the responsibilities that came with harnessing Megalon’s powers. In the wrong hands, Megalon could effectively destroy the world.
Megalopolis Teased Julia’s Time Powers Early On
She may have always had the potential to harness Megalon
Julia saw Cesar stop time originally so she may have had the ability to harness the powers of Megalon at that point in the film and just didn’t know it. Continuing the notion that Megalon and the ability to stop time are metaphors for artistic and creative inspiration sourced from Cesar’s/Coppola’s loves and dreams, Julia’s ability to develop control over Megalon’s powers equates to a young artist’s potential for learning and mastering a craft. Her connection to Cesar gives her a stronger hold on Megalon and their deep bond places them on an equal playing field.
When Julia first encounters Cesar at the start of the film, she is young and unsure of the future. Through Cesar, Julia is able to discover herself while also providing a source of Cesar’s own inspiration, which makes the two inseparable by the film’s end. Another key component of Megalon is belief, indicating that Julia believed in Cesar’s vision enough to be able to access their real-world applications, which appear to only be possible on a higher dimensional plane. Julia being able to harness Megalon is essential to the thesis of Megalopolis since Cesar’s vision is to allow all citizens of New Rome to access and harness the miraculous substance themselves.
Julia Is The Key To Cesar’s Power In Megalopolis Too
Cesar’s utopian vision may have never come to fruition without Julia
Cesar is gifted with the ability to use Megalon’s powers for the betterment of humanity and the future of civilization. He becomes the beholder of Megalon and a new world, almost like a prophetic figure tasked with spreading the word of a higher power to the masses or a religious missionary. Cesar loses the powers of Megalon after engaging in things such as drugs and other vices and only gets them back out of his love for Julia. She has the power to set him straight so he can utilize Megalon’s abilities for the greater good.
It appears that when Cesar falls from grace, he loses the clarity and drive needed to achieve his Megalon-based utopia. Julia is then able to not only empower Cesar but put him back in a position so that he can empower himself and others through Megalon and his utopia. Because Julia becomes such a crucial component in the creation of Megalopolis, she appears to be granted approval of these powers from the sentient mind of Megalon itself. Cesar never explicitly explains step-by-step how to harness them. Ultimately, Cesar becomes a vehicle for Megalon to manifest from a higher dimensional plane into the civilized world of New Rome and Julia is rewarded for her role in this process in Megalopolis.
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Megalopolis Ending Explained
Megalopolis has been decades in the making. Now that Coppola’s film is out in the world, we break down the biggest moments from the film’s ending.
