Upgrade may be an action-packed thriller, but deep down, it asks some big questions of where our technology will be taking us.
Great science fiction is a reflection of the current zeitgeist and where our society is headed. Upgrade, a great sci-film, embodies that sentiment wholly by asking the big questions, but never preaches anything to the audience. With its action-packed screenplay and great characters, the film entertains, as well as spur debates about technology and our reliance on it.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead
There’s been countless films about futuristic worlds where people augment their bodies with technology and cybernetic implants. Some good (RoboCop (1987)), some bad (Johnny Mnemonic (1995)). Upgrade falls in the category of the former. Starring Logan Marshall-Green (Tom Hardy’s clone), the film is set in a believable future that’s become reliant on artificial intelligence, automation, and technological implants.
One fateful night, Grey Trace (Green)—a mechanic with a knack for restoring classic cars—and his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) are involved in an accident after their self-driving car goes awry. As help is on its way, a band of paramilitary thugs descend upon the helpless couple, murdering Asha and leaving Grey a quadriplegic. Months later, Grey is approached by a former client—technology prodigy Eron Keen who bought a restored car from Grey—with an enticing offer: an off-the-books procedure embedding a revolutionary chip called STEM (yes, the name seems to be a satirical nod to the US Department of Education’s overarching 21st century initiative) in his spine, allowing him to function normally again.
Shortly after the miraculous procedure, Grey starts to hear an inner-voice—what soon turns out to be STEM. The chip doesn’t just let Grey live an able life, but can also observe and record anything Grey has encountered. STEM’s intelligence soon leads Grey to the first perpetrator involved in his wife’s murder. As Grey—who has no fight training whatsoever—is overpowered by the assailant, STEM offers its assistance. When Grey gives STEM permission to help, the AI unleashes a series of blindingly fast and fatal counterattacks. It turns out that STEM can also take over the physical apparatus of its host when allowed.
With his newfound abilities, Grey goes on a mission to investigate and bring to justice every person involved in Asha’s murder. Embedded in all the hardcore bloody action, we see a society that has allowed technology to take over. In a more subtle scene that echoes this idea, we see the investigating detective with her initial suspicions about Grey. However, those thoughts are quickly put to rest when her computer calculates an improbable chance that Grey, who’s still thought to be a quadripalegic, could not have the ability to kill, let alone fight someone with military training. It’s quick, but it shows how computers have become a crutch, even replacing good police work.
The characterization of Grey gives a great juxtaposition and reaction to the setting. Grey is a man who has a dislike for untethered modernization. He prefers mechanical automobiles that still require manual shifting. He calls self-driving cars “toys.” And he proudly and unabashedly has no understanding of his wife’s job in the technology sector. Grey is the embodiment of everything old-fashioned. So when STEM takes up residence in Grey, it’s like a Laurel and Hardy routine of analog versus digital—but much more violent.
Grey is also what makes this revenge thriller so charming. He’s a man with heart—heart that extends to a level of care for the very men who killed his wife and left him in this condition. In various scenes, Grey initially enjoys getting the upper-hand. But when STEM takes it a bit too far, Grey begs for his “roommate” to take it down a notch. It’s another meditation on how cold technology can be and why it will always need human intervention.
The writing itself is a testament to great narrative construction. Every scene pushes into the next with conflict after conflict—Grey is never given an easy pass. Like Grey’s STEM-controlled-fighting, the screenplay is lean, muscular, and efficient. You will come out panting—thrilled and, at times, cringing in disgusted delight. After all, the story does do a good enough job for you to care about the protagonist. So when he loses his wife, it’s like you’re losing someone too.
In all science fiction stories, world-building is key. The biggest hurdle is immersing the audience in the setting while avoiding the pitfalls of making the exposition seem like a three-hour college lecture on Tolstoy’s political beliefs. Upgrade circumvents these challenges by pairing relevant character needs to the scene. At one point in the story, Grey desperately looks for a hacker who can free STEM from Keen’s control. That task brings us into another dark world where we see virtual-reality-obsessed players using intravenous therapy for uninterrupted gaming. This world can be as close as tomorrow. With stories from Asia about people who have died from 72-hour gaming marathons (because they forgot to eat and sleep), this is not far-fetched at all.
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Like all great stories, Upgrade is definitely not without its twists and turns. What could’ve been a predictable ending, becomes completely unexpected and, in fact, elevates the theme that much more. STEM is the big-bad in this and it shows how our lax attitudes towards technology’s encroachment may be humanity’s downfall. The film definitely meditates on our passive embrace of current trends going towards transhumanism.
Upgrade is a film that hits all the attributes of a great flick. It has a compelling protagonist, human emotion, imaginative—yet believable—premise, and a few of the best choreographed fight scenes in films today. But, above all, Upgrade is a cautionary tale, a treatise, if you will, of where our silicon admiration might end up. If we’re not careful, we may just end up worshipping a new God—whose bible is written in the language of ones and zeroes.
Upgrade premiered at South by Southwest on March 10, 2018. It was released in the United States on June 1, 2018.
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