Upgrade · reception & legacy

2018 · Leigh Whannell

How Upgrade has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

A modestly-budgeted Blumhouse sci-fi that made barely a ripple at the 2018 box office, it's since become one of the decade's most reliable 'trust me, just watch it' recommendations — and Whannell's Invisible Man glow-up only accelerated the reappraisal.

What's debated

The eternal fan debate: Upgrade is 'the good Venom' — the scrappy $5M movie that did the man-argues-with-the-voice-in-his-body premise better than the $100M Marvel version released the same year.

Its footprint

It lives online as one half of a meme double-bill with Venom (2018), helped by Logan Marshall-Green being the internet's favourite 'discount Tom Hardy' — plus that body-locked fight-scene camerawork gets clipped and shared as a how-action-should-be-shot exhibit.

Where it stands

A certified Letterboxd cult object — the hidden-gem sci-fi actioner people evangelise in comment sections and 'best action of the 2010s' lists.

★ Did you know? Upgrade premiered at SXSW 2018, where it won the Midnighters Audience Award — and the fight scenes' signature look came from a custom rig that kept the camera locked to Logan Marshall-Green's body movements.

Named by the director

Influences Leigh Whannell has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

RoboCop (1987) — Whannell cited it as a model for Upgrade's lean, violent, idea-driven 80s sci-fi tone.
The Terminator (1984) — He pointed to it as the kind of low-budget, high-concept sci-fi thriller Upgrade was chasing.