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Upgrade (film)

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Upgrade
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLeigh Whannell
Written byLeigh Whannell
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStefan Duscio
Edited byAndy Canny
Music byJed Palmer
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 10 March 2018 (2018-03-10) (SXSW)
  • 1 June 2018 (2018-06-01) (United States)
  • 14 June 2018 (2018-06-14) (Australia)
Running time
100 minutes
Countries
  • Australia
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1]
Box office$16.6 million[1]

Upgrade is a 2018 cyberpunk action body horror[2][3] film written and directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, and Harrison Gilbertson. The film follows a man who is implanted with a chip that allows him to control his body after a mugging leaves him paralyzed.[4] The film was produced by Jason Blum, under his Blumhouse Productions banner.

After premiering on 10 March 2018 at South by Southwest, the film was released on 1 June 2018 in the United States by OTL Releasing and Blumhouse Tilt, and on 14 June 2018 in Australia.[5] The film received positive reviews from critics, who called it "one part The Six Million Dollar Man, one part Death Wish revenge fantasy", and praised the film's dark humor and action sequences.[6]

Plot

Grey Trace, a mechanic, asks his wife Asha to help him return a refurbished car to his client Eron Keen, a renowned tech innovator. While visiting his home, Eron reveals his latest creation, a multi-purpose chip called STEM with almost unlimited potential. Returning home, Grey and Asha's self-driving car malfunctions and crashes. Four men attack the couple. Asha is killed and Grey is shot in the neck, severing his spinal cord.

Grey returns home months later as a quadriplegic, under the care of his mother, Pamela. Asha's death and the inability of Det. Cortez to identify their attackers causes Grey to sink into depression. After a suicide attempt, he is visited by Eron, who convinces him to accept a STEM implant, claiming it would allow him to walk again. Grey regains control of his limbs and Eron has Grey sign a non-disclosure agreement, requiring Grey to pretend to still be paralyzed. While watching a drone video feed of his wife's murder, Grey hears STEM speak in his mind. STEM says it can help Grey get revenge and quickly identifies one of the assailants, Serk Brantner, from the video.

Grey breaks into Serk's home and finds proof Serk was "upgraded" with cybernetic implants, and finds messages connecting him with a local bar called the Old Bones. Serk arrives and attacks Grey, but STEM convinces Grey to allow it to take full control of his body, and easily overpowers Serk, violently killing him. Cortez later sees drone footage of Grey’s wheelchair approaching Serk’s house, but his paralysis negates him as a suspect.

Eron has tracked STEM's movements and berates Grey for potentially exposing STEM. Grey reveals STEM is speaking to him, which surprises Eron, who demands that Grey stop his investigation. Grey proceeds to the Old Bones and finds Tolan, another of the assailants. Grey allows STEM to torture Tolan to death, obtaining the name of the assailants' ringleader, Fisk. Leaving the bar, Grey stumbles, and STEM informs him that Eron is attempting to shut them down remotely. STEM directs Grey to a nearby hacker, formerly known as Jamie, and Grey manages to reach the hacker's address just as STEM shuts down completely, rendering Grey paralyzed again. The hacker manages to remove STEM's input guard, and leaves just as Fisk arrives. Grey, with STEM's control restored, kills Fisk's remaining companion.

Grey returns home only for Pamela to see him walking, forcing him to reveal STEM's existence. Cortez arrives to interrogate them after finding Grey's wheelchair abandoned at the Old Bones; she leaves after planting a listening device on Grey's jacket. Grey wishes to give up the hunt, but STEM explains that Fisk will track them down and kill them. STEM reveals that the hack gives him free control of Grey’s body. STEM uses Grey to drive to Fisk, causing an automated car to malfunction and crash into Cortez’, who is tailing them. Cortez returns to Grey's home, where Pamela explains STEM to her.

Grey and STEM find Fisk, who reveals he was only hired to paralyze Grey so he could be implanted. Fisk’s own upgrades outpace Grey's movements, enabling him to gain the upper hand until Grey taunts Fisk with the death of Serk, his brother. With Fisk distracted, STEM is able to kill him. Fisk's phone reveals messages from Eron, suggesting that he had orchestrated all the events.

Grey enters Eron's home, but is held at gunpoint by Cortez before he can kill Eron. Eron confesses how STEM forced him to do its bidding, having long since come to dominate all aspects of Eron's life in pursuit of its goal to become human. STEM kills Eron and attempts to kill Cortez, but Grey fights for control over his own body, managing to shoot himself. Grey wakes up in a hospital room, not paralyzed. Asha explains he has been unconscious for two days following their crash. In reality, Grey is still in Eron's home. STEM, in full control, explains to Cortez that the psychological strain has finally broken Grey's mind; this was STEM's objective all along, as this allowed STEM to assume control over Grey's mind and body. Grey's consciousness believes the idyllic dream state it has found, while STEM kills Cortez and leaves.

Cast

Production

Principal photography on the film began in March 2017 in Whannell's hometown of Melbourne; The chase scene taking place on the southern section of the Craigieburn bypass Hume Freeway (M31) and is actually going the opposite direction to what would have been normal traffic flow to appear that it was filmed in a left hand drive country. Editing took place in Sydney.[7][8]

Release

After premiering on 10 March 2018 at South by Southwest and winning the Midnighters Award,[9] the film was released on 1 June in the United States, and 14 June in Australia by Blumhouse Tilt.[citation needed]

Upgrade is setup for retail in 2 packages, Blu-ray with Digital HD[10] & DVD[11] on 28 August 2018.

Reception

Box office

In the United States, Upgrade was released on 1 June 2018, alongside Adrift and Action Point, and was projected to gross around $3 million from 1,457 theaters in its opening weekend.[12] It ended up debuting slightly above estimates with $4.6 million and finished sixth at the box office. It was the second best opening for a BH Tilt film, after The Darkness' $4.95 million in 2016.[13] It made $2.2 million in its second weekend, finishing ninth.[14]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 173 reviews, and an average rating of 7.27/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Like its augmented protagonist, Upgrade's old-fashioned innards get a high-tech boost – one made even more powerful thanks to sharp humor and a solidly well-told story."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 78% overall positive score and a 46% "definite recommend".[13]

In The Sunday Times (UK) Ed Potton muses, "apart from a few flimsy special effects ... this is a satire that cleaves dangerously close to reality at times."[17] Emily Yoshida, writing for New York magazine's blog Vulture, said, "A great and grimy little screw-turner of sci-fi schlock, the kind that they truly don't make anymore, the kind that would make Carpenter and Cameron proud."[18] On the other hand, Charles Bramesco of The Guardian said, "While Whannell wrestles with warring desires to fret over the techno oblivion we’re hurtling towards or have a laugh about it, that conflict manifests in a disappointing tonal clash that robs the film of the low-rent fun it could be having."[19]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
AACTA Awards 3 December 2018 Best Original Screenplay Leigh Whannell Nominated [20]
Best Editing Andy Canny Nominated
Best Original Music Score Jed Palmer Nominated
Best Sound Will Files, P.K. Hooker, Andrew Ramage Nominated
Best Production Design Felicity Abbott, Katie Sharrock Nominated
Best Visual Effects or Animation Kate Bernauer, Aevar Bjarnason, Matt Daly, Jonathan Dearing, Angelo Sahin Nominated
Best Hair and Makeup Larry Van Duynhoven, Chiara Tripodi Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards February 25, 2019 Best Wide Release Leigh Whannell Nominated [21]
Best Actor Logan Marshall-Green Nominated
Saturn Award 13 September 2019 Best Science Fiction Film Pending
SXSW Film Awards 13 March 2018 Audience Award – Midnighters Leigh Whannell Won [9]

Sequel

On 16 August 2018, producer Jason Blum commented on Twitter that there are plans for a potential sequel.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Upgrade (2018)". The Numbers. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  2. ^ Brody, Richard (14 June 2018). ""Upgrade," Reviewed: The Misguided Nostalgia Behind a Low-Budget Sci-Fi Horror Film". The New Yorker. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (13 March 2018). "Upgrade is set up as a colorful near-future thriller, but it's actually pure body horror". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (15 December 2016). "Prometheus Actor Logan Marshall-Green to Star in Sci-Fi Movie Stem". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  5. ^ McNary, Dave (24 January 2018). "Shailene Woodley's Adrift Set for June Release in Deadpool 2 Slot". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  6. ^ Giles, Jeff (31 May 2018). "Adrift Gets There Eventually". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. ^ Noonan, John (9 March 2017). "Leigh Whannell's Blumhouse Film, STEM, Shoots in Melbourne". Filmink. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  8. ^ Ha, Anthony (1 June 2018). "'Upgrade' director Leigh Whannell talks low-budget worldbuilding". Techcrunch. Oath Inc. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  9. ^ a b Barkan, Jonathan (17 March 2018). "SXSW 2018: Leigh Whannell's Upgrade Wins Audience Award". Dread Central. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Upgrade + Digital HD with Ultraviolet". Amazon. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Upgrade". Amazon. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (30 May 2018). "'Solo' Second Weekend To Induce Post-Memorial Day Slumber at B.O. – Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 June 2018). "'Solo' Hits Asteroid With $29M-$30M; 'Action Point' Condemned To $2M+: Post-Memorial Day Blues at the B.O." Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (10 June 2018). "'Ocean's 8' Steals Franchise Record With $41.5M Opening – Early Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Upgrade (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 18 May 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  16. ^ "Upgrade Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Potton, Ed: Upgrade (2018)". Times (UK). News UK. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Yoshida, Emily: Upgrade (2018)". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Yoshida, Emily: Upgrade (2018)". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  20. ^ https://www.aacta.org/aacta-awards/winners-and-nominees/
  21. ^ @shudder (25 February 2019). "Thanks to everyone for getting in your votes for @FANGORIA's 2019 Chainsaw Awards! So much well-deserved recognition, and we're proud to see MANDY and TERRIFIED bring home wins" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Blum, Jason (16 August 2018). "Jason Blum on Twitter". Blumhouse. Twitter. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
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