UPSIDE DOWN (2013)

Genre: Romance/Sci-Fi
Director: Juan Solanas
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst, Larry Day, Neil Napier, Heidi Hawkins, Don Jordan, Jayne Heitmeyer
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 14 February 2013

Synopsis: Adam (Sturgess) is an ordinary guy in an extraordinary universe. He lives humbly trying to make ends meet, but his romantic spirit holds on to the memory of a girl he met once upon a time from another world, an inverted affluent world with its own gravity, directly above but beyond reach… a girl named Eden (Dunst). Their childhood flirtation becomes an impossible love. But when he catches a glimpse of grown up Eden on television, nothing will get in the way of getting her back… not even the laws of science.

Movie Review:

The first, rather obvious thing to say would be that Upside Down is visually stunning. The commendable graphics are of a grand scale and quality that can only be matched by a few movies before. The world itself and the universe that the film takes place in has been planned and designed to the very last detail. Computer graphics aside, the production design itself is impeccable. One enhances the other and both come across beautifully on-screen. 

Viewers who daunted by the complexity of the universe that Upside Down takes place in have nothing to fear. The mechanics of this world are explained thoroughly this film. Despite how far-fetched it is, the wealth of information that is provided in this movie about the world that it takes place in, from its origins to its physics, enable the audience to be as familier with it as its inhabitents themselves.

Upside Down is a fantasy romance that promises to be a spectacle, as well as a tale that resonates deeply with the audience as it goes on to tell our own story; that of being a small person in a vast landscape riddled with trouble. When it came to the acting, the actors brought a distinct human quality to their roles. The beauty in Upside Down’s characters lies in their vulnerability, and how small they feel in the great landscape of Up There and Down Below. Watching the characters of this film go about their lives, it did come across how every single one of them was but a tiny grain of sand in the grand scheme of things. The world that they inhabit is made so great and magnificent that the very ground that these characters stand on threathens to swallow them up. The actors should be commended for their performances, for neither the graphics, nor the complex camera work overshadowed their prescence in this film.

Timothy Spall is endearing as Bob, the one kindred spirit at Adam can connect to and trust in the huge corporation that is TransWorld. Jim Sturgess in particular, brought every aspect of Adam’s character into each scene. Sturgess built upon the character such that Adam held a remarkable depth. We see layers in Adam; the fear that he holds of him being caught, and the burden that he bears upon his shoulders - that burden being the quest to be accepted into another world so that he can be with the woman he loves. Such a matter is unheard of in the tumultuous histories of Up There and Down Below. In fact, physics would render it impossible and so Adam has to find a way to overcome gravity in order to do it.

One aspect of Upside Down worth mentioning is the cinematography, more specifically, the camera work. In most scenes, one or more of the characters present were 180-degrees vertically-opposite to the others. This is due to the opposing gravities in the world that Upside Down takes place in. The placement and orientation of the characters in the movie are not at all distracting therefore, showing a great deal of skill and planning on the part of the filmmakers when it came to shooting the film.

The script has been well-written. There are plenty of underlying messages in this film so attention to detail is encouraged. The dialogues fit well with the plot and help to enhance the telling of the story as a whole. The sexual innuendoes in the conversation between Adam and Eden bring humor to the story. There are references to modern-day society such as in the advertisement for Adam’s anti-aging cream, that seem so in tune with the rest of Upside Down’s world, but yet feel out of place because of how much they resonate with the audience.

This brings up the matter of Upside Down not being a film taking place in an entire other universe altogether, but a mere exaggerated version of the world that we live in.

Watching this movie, one cannot help but to wonder if the inspiration for it has been drawn from the prescence of communism in our world today. Down Below and Up There seem to be representations of North and South Korea, as well as East and West Berlin. 

The film juxtaposes capitalism and communism with its portrayal of Up There and Down Below, Down Below being the poor, struggling world of communism while Up There being its rich, capitalist reflection. The movie is a strong commentary, and for the most part, criticism of capitalism and consumerism. There are elements of discrimination, revolution, and the quest for freedom.

Portraying all these themes however, took away from the story. As a Romance, Upside Down fails to be as heartwarming as one would expect for it to be. The ending is the equivelent of a balloon being popped. With all the focus on the worlds that Adam and Eden live in and the turmoil that these places hold, for the ending to merely focus on the two lovers left us with little resolution.

Still, for what it is, Upside Down deserves praise. If not for being a romantic drama, which it sought out to be, then for the landscape that it takes place in. Creating an entire world in fiction is never an easy feat and the makers of this movie have succeeded in doing so. 

Movie Rating:

(Upside Down is a fantasy romance that promises to be a spectacle, as well as a tale that resonates deeply with the audience as it goes on to tell our own story; that of being a small person in a vast landscape riddled with trouble)

Review by Nishanthini Ganesan