The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
I will applaud this movie to trying to push beyond your average b-level monster movie from this time period, it does try to have some interesting topics of conversation and a deeper meaning which it kinda accomplishes. Specifically in our main character of Scott Carey as he first finds out that he is shrinking. His panic and downwards spiral of mental health is up there with Lon Chaney Jr's portrayal of The Wolf Man. It's interesting and really well done.
Unfortunately, this movie decides to totally alter direction about halfway through becoming an almost survival film rather than a deep character study, the commentary it tries to have turned into a very general look at survival and the human instinct and this is the portion that really lost me. Not that it is terrible (the visual effects are especially solid) but compared to the really solid start that was intriguing and actually engaging in themes this felt like a clear step-down. I will also say that some of the social commentaries have not aged well serving as almost a distraction. Where I can forgive some of it for the time it was made in this film has some pretty toxic views on subjects such as gender roles and masculinity which feel very irrelevant and out of touch in today's culture. I will also say the last few minutes are preachy garbage that tries to push the meaning and impact of the film to a level this film never came close to reaching. This film still has some really great moments and is overall a thumbs up, but it just can't reach the heights it clearly wants to be at.