In theaters June 14, 2024
A gamer and technology company employee receives a new device that better connects her to her computer. Through the training of this device and its use in a gaming competition, she soon discovers that this may be a dangerous device.
Written and directed by James Croke, this action horror thriller with a touch of science fiction takes the idea of someone who has become a recluse who has talents for computer work and video game be given an opportunity to sharpen her skills and make her own life, and possibly that of her best friend, easier. Of course, there is much more to things than this, but saying anymore would be giving away the whole movie. The writing here is ok and so it the direction for themes that require a careful hand and a lot more detail orientation. Something here is missing, perhaps it was in the writing, perhaps in the direction, or perhaps it is something that ended up on the cutting room floor as the film was originally rated R and cut down for a PG-13 rating. Something feels like it’s missing here, and it may just be more edgy and disturbing sequences (and likely a bunch of swearing, but it didn’t feel off to not have it). That being said, there are some fun elements here and the story has some entertaining parts to it. It’s simply a bit uneven in the writing and direction and it does affect the overall effects of the film.
The cast here is super limited to basically two characters through most of the film with a disembodied voice and there as well as a few uncredited (at least online) bit parts. The lead here is Hana played by Sasha Luss joined by Alexis Ren as Jen. The two of them do good work here, Luss getting the bulk of the screen time and making good use of it. Ren on the other hand makes more than the most of her scenes, stealing a few moments here and there, feeling like the anchor of the film as well as the anchor for Hana in the outside world. The acting works here, but the story lets them down a few times, limiting their interactions and not fully giving them more to do.
The film’s look here is a bit claustrophobic at times, creating a future where someone can easily (or more easily than now) isolate and have severe agoraphobia without most people in their lives noticing. The apartment Hana lives in is dark and dingy, not exactly clean, giving an impression that on top of agoraphobia, she may have depression and/or something else going on. The decor, set dressing, and all other departments came together for this and made it work. The setting is solid and the cinematography filming it is also quite good.
The film here suffers from perhaps not going fully for it with their ideas, it seems restrained (which may come from the neutering of the rating), with some great ideas that don’t fully develop. From what was available before seeing the film, a similar take to Upgrade was, incorrectly, hoped for, so a more action science-fiction than science-fiction thriller (with strong bits of drama). The film is decent, but it’s missing something, it straddles the line between good and bland and the uncut or R-rated cut may very well fix this, but who knows if we’ll ever see it.