Upgrade
BH Tilt | Release Date: June 1, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Original-CinLiam LaceyJun 28, 2018
The triumph of a film like Upgrade, an unapologetic B-movie, is that it aims low and exceeds expectations. Read full review
82
IGNWilliam BibbianiMay 31, 2018
Upgrade is an intense sci-fi action thriller with big ideas, incredible action and a remarkable lead performance. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansSep 1, 2018
It’s still a small, silly movie and there’s nothing particularly novel or even of the moment about its technosceptic stance on machines, but as a genre exercise, it’s a fun ride. Read full review
80
The GuardianMike McCahillAug 30, 2018
At its best – in a boundless chase round a hackers’ hangout, and a high-speed freeway pursuit – Upgrade is as fluid and exhilarating as anything the Wachowskis signed their names to in the days when they were brothers: the kind of nifty, sometimes nasty surprise our multiplexes sorely need. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamAug 27, 2018
A retro science-fiction actioner with both brains and brawn – quite a lot of brawn, actually. Surely destined for cult status. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaMay 31, 2018
A great and grimy little screw-turner of sci-fi schlock, the kind that they truly don’t make anymore, the kind that would make Carpenter and Cameron proud. Read full review
80
TheWrapDave WhiteMay 31, 2018
What Whannell wants most to do is torment and eventually pulverize most of the people in his narrative orbit and make you laugh while he does so. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 28, 2018
Leigh Whannell’s new film is exactly the kind of pure trash that feels suited to spaces that are dirty, neglected, a little bit worse for wear. But this is no insult. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn FinkJun 5, 2018
Without taking itself too seriously or academically, Upgrade operates with a level of remarkable rigor. This is a film that kicks ass, takes names, and has a healthy skepticism of the future without straying too far away from its B-movie, body horror ambitions. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJun 1, 2018
An irresistibly gory science-fiction melodrama, is B-movie schlock done right. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubMay 30, 2018
Upgrade is a movie by Leigh Whannell, who wrote “Saw,” “Insidious” and other memorable horror movies. But other than the occasional moment of stunningly gratuitous gore, it’s nothing like those films. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesKatie WalshMay 30, 2018
Upgrade is a brutish, efficient and well-executed slice of cyberpunk action horror with a silly streak. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeIsaac Feldberg May 30, 2018
Upgrade, Whannell’s second outing behind the camera, is yet another top-notch repair job, this time a kinetic sci-fi riff fashioned from scrap metal and human entrails, nervily updating Cronenbergian body horror for the iOS era. Read full review
75
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonMay 29, 2018
Upgrade’s sheer energy and the strength of its concept do more than enough to elevate this revenge picture into something refreshing and eminently watchable. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeMay 29, 2018
Whannell strikes out on his own with his first truly original concept as a writer-director...in a film whose production is as ambitious as its story is formulaic. Thankfully, the former mostly compensates for the latter, making Upgrade a genre-bending summer treat for those who don’t mind a little (okay, a lot) of blood with their popcorn. Read full review
70
SlateKeith PhippsJun 7, 2018
Whannell commits to making a science fiction film plugged into the moment in which we’re living, and making grim projections of what might be around the corner. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 31, 2018
If Upgrade ultimately plays like a genre exercise, it’s certainly a taut, engrossing one. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 31, 2018
Upgrade is an energetic, superficially slick, latter-day B-movie of the “but dumb” category. That is, it’s kind of like “RoboCop,” but dumb, and also like “Ex Machina,” but dumb. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 30, 2018
Infusing its familiar dystopian sci-fi tropes with stylishly gonzo, low-budget filmmaking and inventive narrative flourishes, Upgrade proves far more entertaining than it has a right to be. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMay 30, 2018
Upgrade offers memorable, legible fights, a compelling bombed-out retro-apocalyptic look and a mystery that seems obvious at the start but then keeps twisting. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleMay 31, 2018
Upgrade is a welcome excuse to put Marshall-Green through some delightfully complex fight choreography. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 8, 2018
Upgrade manages to entice and provoke, impress and terrify, if you let it. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 4, 2018
Like all B-movies, this one provides moments of visceral satisfaction while ignoring nuance and (at times) logic. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonMay 31, 2018
It’s a funny concept, helped by Marshall-Green’s blended look of pleasure and consternation at being the vessel for an invincibility that he enjoys but cannot control. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 31, 2018
Whannell is learning how forward motion can allow a filmmaker to get away with some pretty outlandish brutality. I wish the talk-dependent sequences weren’t so foreshadowed and clunky; only Gabriel transcends them. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDerek SmithMay 29, 2018
Upgrade is most effective when mining the comical and bizarre love-hate chemistry between Grey and Stem and pairing that singular conflict with batshit-crazy action, but the film’s follow-through is clunky and unfulfilling. Read full review
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