The greatest movie ever made..!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I love a good mind bending film with a non-conventional narrative structure. Films that challenge the viewer to figure out what exactly is going on and what it all actually means or represents. It's not enough for the movie to just be odd and confusing. The real test for these types of films is whether I feel engaged and intrigued by what I am watching. This film definitely captured my attention and held it from start to finish. The closest comparison I can think of would be David Lynch films, which I am a huge fan of. If anything, Upstream Color has a more straight forward narrative than the more surreal Lynch films like Inland Empire or Lost Highway. You can go through the movie and follow what is happening, for the most part, while piecing together what it all means. At the end of the film, you will want to go through the movie in your head to form a conclusion about what exactly happened and how you interpret the film, both narratively and thematically. If you go into a movie expecting it to spell everything out and come to a gift wrapped conclusion, you probably won't enjoy this film. If you like movies that require the viewer to draw their own conclusions, this film might be right for you.8/10...but that's just like, my opinion, man# Of Times Watched: Once

Shane Carruth's Upstream Color is a masterwork narrative about victims to an enterprising thief who somehow taps into an obscure process in nature that secretes a drug that in turn makes its users over-suggestive.‭ ‬The thief forces the drug on to the victims who then proceed to willingly sign over their personal property and assets.‭ ‬Once the assets are gone,‭ ‬so is the thief.‭ ‬To further compound the injustice,‭ ‬the influence of this drug does not merely wear-off,‭ ‬rather it lingers and alters the mind and personality of the victims who now spend the balance of their lives trying to recover from it or adjust.‭ ‬This film focuses on two particular victims who were previously unconnected,‭ ‬yet now bond over two things‭; ‬they both recognise the influence of the drug in each other and both are driven to bring their mutual trauma to some kind of resolution.‭ ‬Whether the resolution is the correct one or not is incidental,‭ ‬the point is closure and then the real healing can start.‭ ‬One detail that seems curiously absent are the victims‭' ‬families.‭ ‬Where are they in this trauma‭ ‬and healing‭? ‬If a relative or close friend proceeds to act strangely and then sign all personal effects to a complete stranger,‭ ‬would this not evoke questions and maybe even interventions‭? ‬Further,‭ ‬would the victims‭' ‬family or even financial institutions not trace and act on the random signing-over of assets‭?‬ There seems to be no satisfying way to address this inconsistency.‭ ‬What we do focus instead is on the victims and how they struggle in the aftermath of this mind-altering drug who are now also locked into this obscure process of nature.‭ I saw this film at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto back in‭ ‬2013‭ ‬and was left staggering out of the theater,‭ ‬overwhelmed by the cinematography,‭ ‬acting,‭ ‬music score and story.‭ ‬I am a fan of Carruth's work since Primer,‭ ‬which I proudly own.‭ ‬Though I am dismayed at some of the comments on IMDb,‭ ‬I also realize that some need stories spoon fed to her/him.‭ ‬I know Carruth puts a lot of thought into every facet of his films and that he leverages his technical and financial limitations,‭ ‬more than most other film directors,‭ ‬to get the most story out of them.‭ ‬After all,‭ ‬Carruth is financier, director,‭ ‬composer,‭ ‬and actor of this film so he literally‭ '‬gives his all‭'‬.‭ ‬One can view Upstream Color the way one views a fireworks display;‭ ‬sit back and gape at the beauty,‭ ‬the colors and symmetries.‭ ‬I would consider Upstream Color to be eco-Sci-fi best appreciated through intuition and trust.‭ ‬Shane Carruth is one of the rare directors who tells a story in an unconventional and rewarding way.‭ ‬More than just a movie,‭ ‬Upstream Color is a proud work of art that dares in an industry that is trained to be‭ '‬safe‭'‬.‭

I have no idea how Shane Carruth did it, but this was one of the most interesting films I've seen in quite some time. I actually had to put it on pause once or twice just to breathe, and for that reason I am grateful that I could watch it at home rather than a theater. The story can be a bit overwhelming at times, but my takeaway feeling is one of awe and amazement. Would I watch it again? ummmm. Most likely not. Am I glad that I DID watch it? Definitely. An amazing piece of work that redefines dimensions, parallels and just how hard it can be to come together.

This is not a sci-fi movie, even if it might seem like one at first. It's an art-house metaphor that lasts an hour and a half. And just like always, the metaphor is about society and human condition. That's it. If you want to see an exciting science fiction movie, look elsewhere. In fact, if you want to see a movie, look elsewhere.There is no coherent story here, and in the end all we have is a collection of individual scenes and moments that often fail to connect. Oh, and of course "the message", which is hammered to your head in the last couple of minutes. It's a weird dissonant feeling to watch 90 minutes of artsy expression just to witness the movie break out the hammer anyway. It's not conventional in its bluntness, but certainly the art-house version of blunt. I felt cheated.There is some actually effective artistic expression in this movie, but most of it is needless, gimmicky and pretentious. One example is the way that a conversational scene is sometimes handled. People talk and the audio is normal, but the picture cuts to the same people in different places, many times, again and again until the conversation is over. If you do that for no reason, especially if it's more than once, I start to call bullshit. This is especially frustrating because there is very little dialogue in the first place. Expression and cinematic language is one thing, but going for artsy gimmicks when you don't have anything to say is another. This should have been a short film. I'm almost sure it was a very short story at first, but for some reason Shane Carruth had to go overboard. This movie reeks of artificial prolongation. Message over the medium.It's a shame, because it's clear that Carruth has got a good filmmaker in him. At times the cinematography is very beautiful, some little moments here and there are very effective and even disturbing - in a way you don't see in Hollywood movies - and even the otherwise tiring (because it never went away) soundtrack had something to it. Some connections in the otherwise convoluted and abstract story were smart. I also have to admit that I'm frustrated right now, writing this review. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have been invested in the movie for even one second, so at some points I actually did care.The actors are mostly fine. Low-key and natural, in this movie's sense of natural. No bad performances, but then again - I wouldn't know if this wasn't the case, because there are no real characters. People have barely names or any characteristics. Because it's not about the characters, it's all about the message, man! To summarize: Even though "Upstream Color" has a few powerful moments and some quality to it, it's ultimately just a frustrating, often pretentious artsy fart. Recommended only for hardcore art-house lovers. And of course hipsters, and people who want to tease their hipster friends by complaining about this movie. If you're looking for a gripping, artsy movie that is actually tense and justifies its length, try Denis Villeneuve's "Enemy".