Upstream Color (2013)

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

Writer:

Shane Carruth

Stars:

Amy Seimetz, Frank Mosley, Shane Carruth

5 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amy Seimetz	...	Kris
Shane Carruth	...	Jeff
Andrew Sensenig	...	The Sampler
Thiago Martins	...	Thief
Kathy Carruth	...	Orchid Mother
Meredith Burke	...	Orchid Daughter
Andreon Watson	...	Peter
Ashton Miramontes	...	Lucas
Myles McGee	...	Monty
Frank Mosley	...	Husband
Carolyn King	...	Wife
Kerry McCormick	...	OBGYN
Marco Antonio Rodriguez	...	MRI Tech
Brina Palencia	...	Woman in Club
Lynn Blackburn	...	HR Manager

Storyline

Kris is attacked one night, and hypnotized, using a grub with hypnotic properties, administered by a thief. She follows the thief's instructions to give him everything, even taking out loans. After the worms are extracted, she wakes up to find her life ruined. She's lost her job, her finances are destroyed. Years later, she meets Jeff whom she may have a lot in common with.

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Plot Keywords:

psychological thriller | very little dialogue | caterpillar | nosebleed | checkbook | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 2013 (UK)

Also Known As:

Color a contracorriente

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,649, 7 April 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$444,098, 27 June 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

erbp

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film that Kris is editing at the beginning of the movie is A Topiary, the film that Shane Carruth had begun production on before deciding to film Upstream Color instead.

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Goofs

When the Sampler is incapacitating a pig with his instrument, the knot is thrown towards the pig's face and stretched. In the next frame, the wire knot is around the pig's body between its front & hind legs.

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Quotes

Thief: The next drink must be earned and I'm going to tell you how. Focus closely on my instructions. I will ask you to repeat them from memory.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies You've Probably Never Seen (2016)

User Reviews

Alienating and tedious

Where to begin? Well, it's very possible that Upstream Colour has a very interesting premise. I can't really confirm this though because quite frankly this is one incomprehensible movie. It starts out fairly intriguing to be fair, with a woman abducted by a man who implants a modified maggot into her. This leaves her in some way under his control and he proceeds to get her to give all of her money to him. Another man pitches up and transfers her internal maggot into a pig. It appears that he has a group of pigs that are all connected to different people who have suffered a similar fate. Anyway, the girl has no memory of her ordeal and soon she meets a man who it turns out was also a victim of the same ordeal. It's at this point that the film goes rapidly downhill.

Upstream Colour is one of those movies where things are certainly not spelled out to the audience. This in itself is not a criticism; it's often laudable in actual fact. But equally this in and of itself is does not necessarily mean a film should be praised. This movie lost me mainly because of the alienating presentation, it was impossible to empathise with the characters and the constant ambient soundtrack humming in the background only added to the detachment. The tone of the movie is more or less a flat line – beyond the interesting opening the story hums along in a one pitch manner. The dialogue scenes between the two central protagonists are very unengaging, bordering on tedious. Visually there were things of interest and its ambiguity was compelling to an extent but overall this one left me very cold.