I would suggest that you watch the trailer for Upgrade, and if you like it, see the movie in theaters immediately because it delivers a solid sci-fi story with exquisitely executed and gory violence. It is set in the near future—imagine self-driving cars and Alexa on steroids. Grey, a retro blue-collar guy married to a prosperous wife immersed in the cutting edge technological world, hits rock bottom and decides that technology may be his only hope if he can’t successfully commit suicide. This decision is the first step in a journey that leads him to live a life that he would have considered unimaginable before.
I watch a lot of movies so even though Upgrade was a couple of steps ahead of me, I could at least guess the possible routes it was taking even if I couldn’t definitively determine which road we were on until the film confirmed it. Think The Six Million Dollar Man meets Demon Seed. I appreciated that the filmmakers know that I probably watched Ex Machina and other movies about futuristic technology then used that knowledge to manipulate me instead of acting as if people who go to movies don’t go to movies. It isn’t surprising that an Australian film would be able to convincingly combine dystopian futuristic elements with humor. While the movie is brutal, it doesn’t linger or ogle. It shocks you, but not in a prurient fashion.
I initially mistook Upgrade for a trailer for Venom because both men go through some trauma and emerge fundamentally changed, but for very different reasons. While Logan Marshall-Green may not be Tom Hardy, he is still a very talented actor who is asked to physically act one way and emotionally react in another, which is the complex equivalent of rubbing your stomach and patting your head. With a lot of concentration, you can do it, but not easily yet Marshall-Green makes it seem natural. If you want to try it at home, try having a conversation on your Bluetooth while someone that you know is in front of you that you can’t fully interact with or are trying not to get that person’s attention. He carries the whole movie.
Simon Maiden, who is the voice of Stem, an implant placed inside of Grey, deserves kudos as the most famous artificial voice since 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000.
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I was immediately suspicious of Stem because immediately out of the box, the first thing that he wants to do is to kill people, and I never forgot that someone hacked the wife’s car. I was initially disappointed when it seemed like Grey had no connection to the gang that shot him since they seemed to have the neighborhood and a military service background, which I thought it was alluded to that Grey did serve at some point, in common, but it was actually Stem manipulating the situation to intensify the drama. Reminding Grey of his ignoble background while inflicting new trauma was Stem’s way of getting Grey to go into the virtual reality world that he created for him. Upgrade did a great job of alluding to this fate without being so heavy handed that the ending was obvious. When Stem said that he couldn’t read Grey’s mind, but was testing Grey with mirages of his wife to build a convincing matrix, while I wasn’t certain, I thought that he was not entirely forthcoming. I was always suspicious that Stem wanted to take the brakes off, but I am disappointed that we never find out what the hacker was talking about when the hacker left Grey.
I really loved that while Upgrade was not a supernatural story, it was essentially a scientifically plausible demonic possession story, which is also currently unfolding on Supergirl’s Season 3. I liked that for the most part, Grey and Stem got along and had a good relationship until Stem’s values were incompatible with Grey’s. I loved the casual transhumanism of this world and the introduction of the Upgraded. The murder mystery aspect of the story reminded me of Almost Human. It was a nice touch to have the bartender be the only decent person in town, and he even turns down the music so Grey can make an announcement. I love the trend in media that black women cops are always good and relatable. Betty Gabriel, who is probably best known as Georgina in Get Out and The Purge: Election Year, plays Detective Cortez. When Stem hacked her car, it confirmed my earlier suspicions about it. Stem is so going to kill Grey’s mom.
I noticed that the first house that Grey and Stem visit is number 414, and the hacker’s apartment is 514. Is there some significance to these numbers? I don’t believe that they would be so prominent if they didn’t matter. The opening credits were clever. I’ve never watched or had the slightest interest in the Saw or Insidious franchises (yes, I saw graffiti in the hacker’s building) so kudos to Leigh Whannell for finally getting my attention. I imagine that some movie goers may be disappointed that Whannell didn’t use Upgrade to tackle loftier themes about man and technology, but we already have a Blade Runner. Whannell seems more concerned about making an entertaining movie. Social commentary is incidental and focused on how technology leaves people behind in an economic violent wasteland always adjacent to the prosperous.
I relished Upgrade as a movie fan’s movie. If you’re on a budget, you can wait until it is on DVD, but the theater experience is probably more fun since it is actually visually arresting.