Up There (2012)

Martin (deceased) is stuck in a dead-end job, welcoming the newly departed into the afterlife. All he dreams of is going 'Up There'. But his plans are thrown into disarray when he has to ... See full summary »

Director:

Zam Salim

Writer:

Zam Salim

Stars:

Burn Gorman, Iain De Caestecker, Warren Brown

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Burn Gorman	...	Martin
Iain De Caestecker	...	Tommy
Warren Brown	...	Slab Boy Joey
Kate O'Flynn	...	Liz
Jo Hartley	...	Margaret
Alexander Morton	...	New Supervisor
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Ali
Kirsty Strain	...	Cheryl
Chris Waitt	...	Counsellor
Aymen Hamdouchi	...	Rash
Brad Moore	...	Warder
James Young	...	Lino
David Cheung	...	Warder 2
Paul McCole	...	Tony
Leon Vickers	...	Registrar

Storyline

Martin (deceased) is stuck in a dead-end job, welcoming the newly departed into the afterlife. All he dreams of is going 'Up There'. But his plans are thrown into disarray when he has to team up with the relentlessly chirpy Rash and together they lose a new arrival. The mismatched pair give chase and end up in a remote seaside town populated by cocky teenagers, sinister old women and the enigmatic Liz, who has 'suicide written all over her'. Can they stop bickering long enough to find the lost soul? Will Rash be reunited with his brother Chunky? And can Martin get back in time to finally get 'Up There'? UP THERE is a killer comedy about life, death and irritating friends.

---

Plot Keywords:

afterlife | staring | gas station | accident victim | suit | 

---

Taglines:

Caring in the afterlife is a dead-end job

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Laid Off

Filming Locations:

Johnstone, Renfrewshire

Company Credits

Production Co:

UK Film Council,Creative Scotland,BBC Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Salim developed this feature from his 2006 short 'Laid Off' which received over half a million hits on YouTube.

---

Quotes

Martin: My wife struggled to move on, but luckily Keith was there to comfort her...

---

Soundtracks

Get On My Level
Written by C Fetti / Realbeatbangas
Performed by C Fetti
Courtesy of Ballerz Inc. Entertainment

User Reviews

Beautiful little film (8* out of 10)

This is a very nice film, in which the main character is trying to figure out the meaning of after-life. And after-life can be a very depressing place, including group-therapy, and the nagging suspicion that your superiors are judging you every step of the way. A typically grey and gloomy Scottish atmosphere provides the background against which the main character tries to muddle through with a DIY-mentality ("Don't Involve Yourself") - which is disturbed by his "side-kick", a walking Ali G parody, whose "help" is the last thing anyone needs.

Although in style this film is based on a subdued form of humour, you find yourself chuckling through most of the film and laughing out loud very frequently. The last one is mainly courtesy of the "side-kick". This is not a film for those who prefer their films jam-packed with action. In fact, "inaction" and "being/feeling trapped" is an important topic of the film. So the "speed" of the film is conformable to its rather grey atmosphere - so, tempo and atmosphere are a bit like the Frances McDormand scenes in Fargo.

The cast is excellent throughout, and Burn Gorman has the chance to shine in the lead role. This film gives the audience a chance to see the high quality he has as an actor, which is a nice change for those of us who only know him from the vastly inferior TV-series "Torchwood", whose crappy scripts and stories manage to sabotage even talents as big as those of Gorman and Barrowman.