Upgrade (2018)

Director: Leigh Whannell

Writer: Leigh Whannell

Composer: Jed Palmer

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie, Simon Maiden, Michael M. Foster

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Not Man. Not Machine. More.

Plot: Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when Grey, a self-identified technophobe, has his world turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant called Stem.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again?  YES!

WOW!  I knew nothing except the basic plot and that's it.  I didn't even see the trailer.  I'm blown away.  It's smart science fiction that feels real enough to buy into hook, line and sinker but it's also hilarious in strange, sometimes dark ways.  But then it also has plenty of action.  And the ending?  Holy fucking shit was I strangely emotionally wrapped up in it.  It's brilliant.  I was so worried throughout the film that the ending was going to let me down but there's a point in the last act where I had the confidence of the filmmaker that it wouldn't and it delivered in spades.  There is so much about this picture that I love and I can't wait to see it again.  And it was a rare theater experience, too, as there were only about ten people there but not one person said a word the entire time.  That was just icing on the cake.  There are several scenes where the score was absent which gave the visuals room to breathe and let you take in the atmosphere.  I was so excited that as soon as I was home I was looking up the cast and crew on IMDb and I was surprised to see that this was the writer/director's second film (as director) with INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 (2015) being his first.  Of all movies.  I haven't seen that one but it seems like a massive leap from that one to this one.  He's been a busy writer starting with the first three SAW films and later the four INSIDIOUS pictures.  I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes next and I'm also looking forward to owning UPGRADE so I can show it to all my friends.