Upstream Color

Name: Upstream Color
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Released: April 5, 2013
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 81
Cast: Amy Seimetz, Andreon Watson, Andrew Sensenig, Ashton Miramontes, Frank Mosley

2013

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 153 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 153 Ratings

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Upstream Color

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Movie Details & Credits

erbp | Release Date: April 5, 2013 | Not Rated

Starring: Amy Seimetz, Andreon Watson, Andrew Sensenig, Ashton Miramontes, Frank Mosley, Kathy Carruth, Meredith Burke, Myles McGee, Shane Carruth, Thiago Martins

Summary: A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Director: Shane Carruth

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Time Out London Trevor Johnston

Aug 27, 2013

If you’ve ever sat at your desk wondering whether there’s more to life, or been kept awake by an insidious hum in the darkness, this will speak to your soul – even as its enveloping, disturbing, uplifting story sends your mind reeling with giddy possibilities. Read full review

100

The Playlist Rodrigo Perez

Feb 5, 2013

You may not be able to figure it out, but that's part of the point of this sensually-directed, sensory-laden experiential (and experimental) piece of art that washes over you like a sonorous bath of beguiling visuals, ambient sounds and corporeal textures. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Apr 25, 2013

It’s all a neat trick. Or exercise. Or brain-teaser. Whatever you want to call it, Upstream Color is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. But once you have seen it, once isn’t going to be enough Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Feb 5, 2013

Upstream Colors certainly is something to see if you’re into brilliant technique, expressive editing, oblique storytelling, obscuritanist speculative fiction or discovering a significant new actress. Read full review

Empire Kim Newman

Aug 26, 2013

How to sum up? You have to make synapse-spark connections, interpret events to your own satisfaction, pick up visual cues (a long stretch of the film is dialogue-free) and be happy with not knowing all the answers (you know, like in life — but not in most motion pictures). A perfectly judged, strikingly beautiful film, but also a lunatic enterprise which invites — even welcomes — befuddlement as much as wonder. A true original. Read full review

Andrew O'Hehir

Apr 4, 2013

So Upstream Color is defiantly pitched in its own idiosyncratic key, but it bears the unmistakable influence of Carruth’s fellow Texan Terrence Malick and also of Steven Soderbergh’s early films. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Apr 2, 2013

No one is going to explain any of this for you — and the slightly snobby implication of Upstream Color is that explanations are for suckers. Read full review

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User Reviews

Gerbus

Jun 28, 2013

This is an absolutely amazing movie. If you've seen and liked Primer, you'll like this too. The true greatness of the writing is evident when 45 minutes in, you're still wondering what's going on, and you haven't gotten bored. I put a lot of movies back after 20 minutes, because there's noThis is an absolutely amazing movie. If you've seen and liked Primer, you'll like this too. The true greatness of the writing is evident when 45 minutes in, you're still wondering what's going on, and you haven't gotten bored. I put a lot of movies back after 20 minutes, because there's no hook in the writing. But this has a hook. It's ethereal. It's emotional. It's beautiful.… Expand

4 of 8 users found this helpful44

CinemaCrush

Oct 11, 2017

The best sci-fi film of the 21st century. I say sci-fi... but really it can't be pegged. Just brilliance from Shane Carruth and an epic follow up after Primer.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Friskytiger81

Apr 16, 2013

Yes, it's a polarizing film, 4 people walked out 30 mins in, but it's a worthy successor to Carruth's debut, "Primer" and one of the best films in this early year. This reminds me of "The Tree of Life" in how many reviews bloat a "head-scratching" plot. However, it's really not thatYes, it's a polarizing film, 4 people walked out 30 mins in, but it's a worthy successor to Carruth's debut, "Primer" and one of the best films in this early year. This reminds me of "The Tree of Life" in how many reviews bloat a "head-scratching" plot. However, it's really not that difficult. The elliptical editing similar to what Carruth achieved in his first, "Primer" warrants more time to fully understand the plot, but it's by no means, impossible. After first viewing, it's a telling tale of deception and retribution, a complex story of theft while tracking down those involved (however loosely) and creating a life from the wreckage the deceit involved. It's worth the investment and is different from anything from a major studio you'll ever see partially why it's self-distributed (by the director). Writer/director Shane Carruth, because of his stories' complexities and the depth at which his stories take viewers, including his willingness to self-distribute titles makes him one of the most important American directors even with only 2 films under his belt. See this film, so you can watch again to fully understand the plot.… Expand

6 of 11 users found this helpful65

hoops2448

Sep 11, 2013

Writing a review about Upstream Color implies I have gotten as much as I possibly want from the film out of it but that couldn't be further from the truth as truly understanding this stream of conscious thought would take more than a few watches and honestly I don't think my wallet can takeWriting a review about Upstream Color implies I have gotten as much as I possibly want from the film out of it but that couldn't be further from the truth as truly understanding this stream of conscious thought would take more than a few watches and honestly I don't think my wallet can take the enlightenment. When Kris (Amy Seimetz) is accosted by a mysterious stranger and implanted with a mind altering parasite, her ideal life is upended and the only thing that seems to return her to a modicome of normalcy is Jeff (Shane Carruth), a man who has been through a similar experience that she meets on a train. While the film does demand you fill in the films many plot holes with your own imagination, it isn't the same lazy storytelling technique that made Only God Forgives so intolerably stupid. The film sets a framework for the viewer, one that we must populate with our own thoughts, our own ideas about what it all means. Without our input and our sense of self this film wouldn't work. It's a special picture because no one sees the same thing or comes to the same conclusion. The connection Kris makes with this creature is a way of discussing not only the natural cycle of things on this planet but the concept of symbiosis, the coming together of two organisms and the bond the two form as they work with each other. This is something interpreted by Kris and Jeff's importance to each other but also through Kris' relationship to the parasite, something she cannot see but she knows somehow is there. Seimetz proves herself one to watch as she brings out so much in a dialogue light script. Her actions tell a wealth of story while leaving as much to self interpretation as possible. It's an exercise in expanding your mind but also in letting go and enjoying a trippy but complex love story between not only a man and a woman but a woman and a parasite.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

duncan1964

Mar 24, 2015

If you found Shane Carruth's first film, Primer, a tough watch prepare to be completely bamboozled by his second feature. The plot is...well unexplainable! It involves strange maggots, operations on pigs, hypnotic states and an unorthodox love affair. For most this will induce frustrationIf you found Shane Carruth's first film, Primer, a tough watch prepare to be completely bamboozled by his second feature. The plot is...well unexplainable! It involves strange maggots, operations on pigs, hypnotic states and an unorthodox love affair. For most this will induce frustration and confusion and many aren't going to make it to the end, others will delight in its offbeat, hallucinatory structure. There is no doubt cart is a filmmaker of talent but if he gets any more obtuse he risks disappearing up his own arthouse orifice.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

EludiumQ36

Jun 15, 2013

Shane Carruth's second film "Upstream Color" is just as obtuse and bewildering as "Primer". This guy is never going mainstream with this style; when most people including me have to spend nearly as much time as the film in Reddit (or Slate or io9) trying to understand it then that's aShane Carruth's second film "Upstream Color" is just as obtuse and bewildering as "Primer". This guy is never going mainstream with this style; when most people including me have to spend nearly as much time as the film in Reddit (or Slate or io9) trying to understand it then that's a failed film style. It's as if he films a story that makes sense then edits out all the connective pieces, the essentials that tie one scene to another. We understand cause and effect, but in his films he removes or distorts the cause and you're just left with effects. I.don't.like.that. Good luck if you attempt to watch… Expand

2 of 11 users found this helpful29

filmviewer

Apr 14, 2013

Most critics have missed the symbolism. It's an allegory for the dictatorial control writers and directors have over their characters, and the problems that can arise because of it. But if anything this perception makes the movie worse. It highlights how much is truly arbitrary.

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

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