The Best Movie You Never Saw: Upgrade

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Welcome to The Best Movie You NEVER Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine.

This week we’ll be looking at UPGRADE!

THE STORY: After his wife is murdered and he’s left a quadriplegic, Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) agrees to be a tech billionaire’s guinea pig, with him being implanted with STEM, a multi-purpose AI-infused chip that allows him to regain control of his limbs. However, the self-aware STEM also has its own agenda, and soon man and machine – form an uneasy alliance allowing Grey to avenge his wife’s murder – but is he being used?

THE PLAYERS: Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, and Harrison Gilbertson. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell.

As a model, I used ’80s sci-fi films that I grew up with. I used the original Terminator as a great example because if you really study that movie scene-by-scene, the science fiction and the tech is doled out very judiciously and sparingly. It’s kind of this lean-and-mean, slash-and-stalk movie that is dressed in this sci-fi skin. And I loved that. – Leigh Whannell – Tech Crunch Interview

THE HISTORY: Up until a few years ago, Leigh Whannell was mostly known for his collaborations with director James Wan, having written the first three SAW films, DEAD SILENCE, and the first two INSIDIOUS films before making his directorial debut with the coolly received the third film. Thus, no one took much notice when he signed on to direct a micro-budget action-sci-fi-horror flick called UPGRADE for Blumhouse.

It took until the film’s debut at SXSW as part of their midnight section for the word to get out that this was much more than your standard genre fare, with many out of the fest praising the action and world-building, as well as star Logan Marshall-Green’s lead performance. Still, not being one of Blumhouse’s studio co-productions, a major release was never in the cards, although their in-house studio, BH Tilt, do manage to get it out on over 1400 screens its first weekend, where it did better than expected if modest, business. Over the summer of 2018, the movie managed to stick around the charts, picking up a cult following and grossing over $11 million, making it BH Tilt’s most successful theatrical release, even if its gross was comparatively modest to most other genre fare that came out that year.

WHY IT’S GREAT: UPGRADE was a movie I had to wait months and months to see. I was intrigued by its SXSW reception, and indeed the early reviews (including this one by JimmyO) suggested it was something special, but it took a long time for the film to pick up international distribution – even so far as Canada was concerned. When I finally saw it, at the tail end of the summer of 2018, I was totally blown away.

Armed with a measly $3 million budget, Leigh Whannell made what has to be one of the best American-made sci-fi/action flicks in recent years. While the posters made it look more like a horror film, this is actually a bone-crunching thriller/action flick, with Logan Marshall-Green an amiable hero, who finds his body and soul taken over by a sociopathic machine, STEM, with a mind of its own – and for most of the movie, he doesn’t even mind. In fact, the odd buddy chemistry with STEM is part of what makes Whannell’s movie so fresh. It would have been easy to do the horror movie version of this (or the superhero version). Instead, Whannell does the action movie version.

It’s too bad this was overshadowed by VENOM, as for my money UPGRADE does something similar – better. They’re both about average joes being turned into killing machines by third parties that can take over their bodies, but VENOM does so in an ultimately mainstream PG-13 way. UPGRADE is more noirish, with a gut-punch ending that would have never made it into theaters has this been a pricier film.

The story is intriguing, with it not too hard to believe something like STEM could eventually exist, and Whannell does amazing things with his limited resources, with it a gorgeous looking film (DP Stefan Duscio accomplishes similarly impressive visuals in Whannell’s new THE INVISIBLE MAN), with a cool electronic score by Jed Palmer. But, where the movie absolutely owns is in the fight scenes…

I would love an Upgrade sequel. I will say that we haven’t put it to bed yet. We have no immediate plans, but Upgrade is very much on my mind — and on Leigh’s mind as well. – Jason Blum – Fandom Interview

BEST SCENE: So, in UPGRADE, the trick is that Logan Marshall-Green’s character doesn’t know how to fight, but STEM is able to make him indestructible if he controls his body. Thus, Green has to participate in tricky choreography while also acting like he’s terrified of the crazy, unexpected things his body is doing. All of the fights are jaw-dropping, but for my money the coolest is the first, unexpected kitchen scrap.

SEE IT: UPGRADE is available on Blu-ray, and on many streaming services, along with iTunes, Google Play, etc.

PARTING SHOT: While on its way to becoming a cult hit, UPGRADE still feels too obscure given how good it is. With THE INVISIBLE MAN getting great reviews and hitting theaters this weekend, now’s the time to discover Whannell’s other awesome genre flick. Give it a look folks!