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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Following her 2021 feature debut, The Blazing World, filmmaker Carlson Young returns to the director’s chair through her sophomore film, Upgraded, through Amazon Studios/ Prime Video. Written by Christine Lenig, Justin Matthews, and Luke Spencer Roberts, this hour-and-44-minute romantic comedy reveals the line separating various dualities—between lies and truth; obscurity and transparency; avoiding risk and taking chances; personal growth and professional progression; salt and pepper; work and play; performance and reality; et cetera. Having seen this film twice, I can assure prospective viewers that this rom-com is worth the watch due to its subtle excellence.
In this review, I will be discussing Carlson Young’s Upgraded. As the title of this review suggests, there will be no spoilers ahead. Reader’s discretion is advised.
NOTE: No spoiler language was made explicit during my pre-viewing experience, although I will still try to keep specific plot points unsaid and vague.
Prime Video’s Upgraded Synopsis
According to Amazon Studios Press, here is the synopsis for Upgraded.
Ana (Camila Mendes) is an ambitious intern dreaming of a career in the art world while trying to impress her demanding boss Claire (Marisa Tomei). When she’s upgraded to first class on a work trip, she meets handsome Will (Archie Renaux), who mistakes Ana for her boss– a white lie that sets off a glamorous chain of events, romance and opportunity, until her fib threatens to surface.
Amazon Studios Press
Discussion
As far as romantic comedies go, Carlson Young’s Upgraded is great work. Ana Santos (Camila Mendes) never fails to chase her aspirations, i.e., to earn a living in a profession that many in the outside world tend to believe does not make much money: art, specifically art history. Her perseverance to chase those dreams never falters, and her consistent steadfast nature is perhaps what sets this rom-com apart from recent ones we might have seen. Santos embarks on a narrative journey not unlike that of Cinderella, although trading the “evil stepsisters and stepmother” archetypes for a boss committed to her line of work along with two not-too-friendly assistants.
It is not necessarily that Santos lies to play a role that is not hers—a common trope in the romantic comedy genre. Instead, she seems to withhold the truth and keeps digging a hole for herself. The film’s pacing is rather brisk insofar that viewers may miss out on all the romantic build-up between Santos and her love interest William (Archie Renaux) during one nighttime outing at the end of the middle act. Consequently, I also feel as if there are not many pivotal narrative beats going on for Santos. However, that isn’t so much of a bad thing. I do appreciate the lack of a montage that usually serves as the falling action in romantic comedies. (Emma Seligman’s Bottoms is one example, yet it utilizes that cliché so well, which is beside the point.)
Composer Isom Innis and most of the music supervisors Chris Mollere and Kirsten Lane’s song selections create a mask that is the romantic comedy side of the story. For example, when Santos rushes through the streets of London to work on her first day in the country, the score truly feels very rom-com-esque and fantastical.
Dualisms
From the start, Young and the co-screenwriters make it quite clear as to what the theme is and what messages viewers should find themselves gaining from it. The film begins with Hilma af Klint’s 1914 painting, Svanen (or, The Swan), which consists of a vertical line intended to “evoke the feeling of contradiction”, a symbol of “the union necessary for creation” that is otherwise a separation between opposite forces, i.e. dualities. To the casual viewer, this could probably go over their heads. Yet, what earns Upgraded its merit is its gathered harmony of polar opposites.
The divider between Santos and William on their flight from New York to London—with Santos having gone from economy to first class/ business, hence the film’s title—marks the symbol of that very line between opposites. It’s a metaphorical symbol that starts as abstract but sooner than later eventually comes into physical existence. There are enough instances of dualities showcased throughout Young’s film, and I enjoyed breaking down what each of them is. One duality deals with performance and reality, which play into the rom-com trope of “lying”, or withholding the truth while using other people to achieve personal benefit.
Performance Is Key
There are no little typos; there are only huge fucking mistakes!
Claire Dupont (Marisa Tomei), in Carlson Young’s Prime Video romantic comedy, ‘Upgraded’
As was the case in my review of Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 1 earlier this week, Carlson Young’s Upgraded revolves around roleplaying. I mean, what better to represent New York and its world of art than another tale of performance? Young and her writers demonstrate that acting, whether in a romantic, professional, or any other type of setting, requires carefulness. Even the smallest misplacement or absence of an element, such as in the labeling of an art piece, leads to the failure of an artist. Reality is important, then, as it, in turn, exhibits outcomes and responses.
The Crew Behind Carlson Young’s Upgraded
Mike Stern Sterzynski is the director of photography.
Debbie McWilliams and Jemima McWilliams serve as the casting directors for the film.
Bruce Green serves as the editor. Leslie Jones is the additional editor. Joe Maddock and Karolis Milius are the assistant editors for the UK.
Chris Mollere and Kirsten Lane serve as the music supervisors. Isom Innis scores the musical composition for the film.
Neil Stemp serves as the music editor.
Andy Holden-Stokes is the production designer. Lisa de Cunha serves as the art director. Kyra Boselli serves as the art director for the New York unit.
Sue Parker serves as the set decorator, while Rachael Smith is the assistant art director.
Lance Milligan is the UK costume designer. Lara de Bruijn serves as the US costume designer (for the New York unit).
Suzanne Bolton serves as the assistant costume designer. Fionnuala Milligan is the assistant costume designer for the New York unit.
Tori Robinson serves as the hair & makeup designer. Arjan Bhasin is Marisa Tomei’s stylist, while Hind Matar is Tomei’s costume stylist.
Bobby Bauer is Tomei’s acting coach.
Paul Stephenson serves as the still photographer/ electronic press kit person.
The Cast Behind Upgraded
Camila Mendes (Do Revenge) portrays Ana Santos, a young intern at Erwin’s auction house in New York.
Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone, The Greatest Beer Run Ever) portrays William, Ana’s love interest from London. Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny) portrays Claire Dupont—Ana’s boss and the director of Erwin’s auction house in New York.
Lena Olin (Remember Me, David Weil’s Hunters) portrays Catherine DeLaroche, William’s mother. Anthony Head portrays Julian Marx, Catherine’s current husband.
Thomas Kretschmann (Blade II, Infinity Pool, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) portrays Arnold Grant, one of the top brokers for Erwin’s. Grégory Montel plays Gerard Abel, the director of Erwin’s Paris office.
Executive producer Rachel Matthews (Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2U) plays Suzette, Dupont’s arthouse assistant. Fola Evans-Akingbola portrays Renee, also Dupont’s arthouse assistant.
Aimee Carrero (Devil’s Due, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, The Menu) portrays Vivian, Ana’s older sister. Andrew Schulz (You People, White Men Can’t Jump) portrays Ronnie, Vivian’s fiancé.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson portrays Amy, Ana’s best friend at Erwin’s auction house in New York.
Smaller Roles
Matteo Lane portrays a Sovereign Air Lounge Escort. Juliet Agnes portrays an airport ticket agent, who sets off the course of events for the film.
Akshay Shah plays a flight attendant. Jack Hewitt plays Billy, an employee at Erwin’s auction house in New York.
Chloe Wade plays a front desk employee at Erwin’s auction house in London. Paul Hawkyard plays Percy, a “butler” of Dupont’s Carlson suite.
John Hays plays a New York auctioneer.
Declan O’Connor plays a man at a social event in London named John Lammington. Liamn Burke plays Amy’s nude model named Bob, credited as “Robert”.
Director Carlson Young makes an uncredited cameo as a hungover woman.
Performances and Character Developments
Renaux has good qualities about him as Santos’s male love interest. Just through his introduction alone, William proves that he is serious about his dynamic with Santos. In fact, the certain context behind how they first meet conveys that he is a forgiving person. I would have liked to see the runtime extended to squeeze in a longer romantic evening between the two characters. Although, I guess that is not the point the storytellers were aiming for.
I am not too familiar with a majority of Mendes’s prior acting credits. However, hair and makeup designer Tori Robinson and the costume designers present Santos as a woman who teeters between the two realms that comprise her Mitwelt (social/cultural world). To add to the Cinderella metaphor, instead of the strike of midnight to divide fantasy and reality, Santos personifies the line between dualities that she constantly finds herself oscillating between. Her shame in playing a false role is what prompts her to keep William and his family apart from her colleagues.
Despite the pairing of Mendes and Renaux, which is only partially the purpose of the film, I am more intrigued by the dynamic between the former and Tomei. There is not as much of this as I would have liked, and the final act truly makes me want more. Certainly, it would be interesting to see Dupont’s larger role in the narrative conflict. Tomei speaks in an accent that is as unique as her accent in My Cousin Vinny, further proving that the actor knows how to own a role. Her delivery of a certain line directed at Mendes’ Santos in the climax hits hard.
Supporting Characters
While unfortunately not present on screen for narrative purposes, Andrew Schulz steals the show from the get-go, comprising a lot of what personally is the comedic elements of the film. As a result of Santos being something of a “cockblocker” unintentionally coming between him and his fiancé, his unhinged rhetorical remarks are a major highlight of this Prime Video title. I would hate to spoil why he makes me laugh out loud (literally), but let’s just say that he is partially the reason for Upgraded‘s R-rating. For almost that same reason, Jackson is not utilized enough as the best friend archetype. Her character, Amy, has her funny moments, and I would like to see how she contributes to Santos’s development.
Olin and Head’s Catherine DeLaroche and Julian Marx, respectively, are interesting characters, to say the least. Juxtaposed with other adult figures in the film, say, Dupont and her auction house colleagues, William’s parents appear lax albeit determined in their personal goals in the film. Again, with Santos as the personification of that fine line, they use her to their advantage, which plays into the collision with the protagonist’s other social world. DeLaroche and Marx have strong kairos, a rhetorical appeal to timing, whereas Santos dips and rises in ethos, or character.
Final Thoughts on Carlson Young’s Upgraded
There is a small line of dialogue spoken within a span of seconds regarding a van Gogh painting being sold to an NFT client that is not unheard of to me. Personally, this drove me a bit crazy, and I felt convinced that the film holds some ties to F. Gary Gray’s Netflix art heist movie, Lift, from last month. Nonetheless, Lenig, Matthews, and Roberts’ meticulous screenwriting and the structuring thereof are brilliant. Young’s Upgraded employs art in a romantic comedy that also doubles as a film about business, nearly leaning into workplace drama, and I believe there is something commendable about how those ideas are offered to the audience.
Overall, a solid 4/5-star rating for a must-see film.
Carlson Young’s Upgraded streams via Prime Video starting tonight, Friday, February 9th!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
