Upside Down
Millennium Entertainment | Release Date: March 15, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
12
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiSep 9, 2014
Simply put, this is one of the craziest films to come along in a while and I can confidently say that anyone who sees it will either hail it is some kind of crackpot masterpiece or dismiss it as one of the silliest damn things they've ever seen. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesPeter SobczynskiMar 18, 2013
This is one of the craziest films to come along in a while and I can confidently say that anyone who sees it will either hail it is some kind of crackpot masterpiece or dismiss it as one of the silliest damn things they've ever seen. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMar 14, 2013
Solanas’s daring takes the form of ambition. Upside Down has a visionary look that has affinities with everything from “Metropolis” to “Blade Runner” to “Children of Men.” Solanas has the temerity to split the screen horizontally in many shots. Usually, this works, though “Upside Down” is not recommended for anyone subject to visual dislocation. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedMar 12, 2013
True originality is so rare that it’s a treat to welcome a movie as completely different and provocative as Upside Down. It’s unlike anything you have ever seen. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMar 14, 2013
It's best not to overthink the sci-fi love story Upside Down and just enjoy its dazzling visuals, dream-like inventiveness and lush romanticism. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 14, 2013
At a time when so many movies look alike, and studio productions sometimes look aggressively ugly, here's a quirky vision at the intersection of sci-fi and romance. Upside Down can be beguiling if you're willing to invert disbelief. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James AdamsApr 25, 2013
Upside Down is no more than one big-budget, gussied-up fairy tale – a topsy-turvy Romeo and Juliet. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyMar 18, 2013
It starts off well enough, and Solanas has a marvelous sense of space and style. But he doesn't develop its story and doesn't truly draw out its characters. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 14, 2013
In Upside Down, writer-director Juan Solanas takes the gimmick about as far as it can go, rendering the metaphor of longing and separation in effective, and richly visual, terms. If anything, however, he goes too far. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 14, 2013
All Upside Down has is its love story, which despite the undeniable appeal of Sturgess and Dunst, never ignites. So the movie is like a huge package, wrapped in gold leaf, but containing a 10-dollar toaster. Fine. It's a toaster. It works. It's not garbage. But who can pretend it's not a disappointment? Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 14, 2013
Without a strong narrative engine, Upside Down ends up exactly where it shouldn't go: sideways. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 13, 2013
This head-scratcher boasts visual imagination to spare even as its logistical complexities and heavy-handed symbolism ultimately prove off-putting. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 13, 2013
Upside Down is a very fancy piece of junk. Read full review
42
The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinMar 12, 2013
Sturgess and Dunst are two actors who have the potential to excel; “Heartless” and “Melancholia” both hold notable performances from them that serve the story and its themes well. Here though, Solanas does the pair no favors. Read full review
40
VarietyJohn AndersonMar 18, 2013
A dystopic sci-fi romance about inverted planets that will have audiences wondering which way is up, but not really caring much or for very long. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMar 14, 2013
Its compelling conceit is immediately weighed down by leaden execution. Read full review
40
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekMar 12, 2013
Solanas comes up with arresting images; it's in telling the story that he stumbles, getting so tripped up in the allegorical details of his invented universe that his characters suffer. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 12, 2013
The movie builds to a particularly deflating anticlimax, passing over an inevitably apocalyptic confrontation between spheres with a wink-wink, nudge-nudge bit of dialogue that’s like a rejected punchline from a Douglas Adams novel. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithMar 14, 2013
Argentine writer-director Juan Solanas’ fantasy romance Upside Down is such a gorgeous wreck that I could almost sense Terry Gilliam somewhere muttering, “Wait a minute, I should have been the one to screw up this idea.” Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSal CinquemaniMar 13, 2013
The highlight of the film is the moment Jim Sturgess's Adam inadvertently pisses on the ceiling. Read full review
16
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonMar 13, 2013
Moment for moment, Upside Down is the most embarrassing, hilarious, obliviously stupid movie since M. Night Shyamalan’s "The Happening," and its constant pursuit of a striking image over any other consideration undermines it at every turn. Read full review
10
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 14, 2013
Did I mention that Upside Down is simply awful? Read full review
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