Ana Santos (Camila Mendes) longs to open an art gallery of her own and is trying to climb the corporate ladder working as a trainee for prestigious New York auction house Erwin. Disliked by her boss Claire (Marisa Tomei) and treated poorly by her co-workers, Ana struggles to make ends meet and lives with her sister and brother-in-law in a tiny apartment. After throwing her hat in the ring to accompany Claire and her assistants on a trip to London, Ana accidentally finds herself upgraded to first class on the flight. It’s there she meets charming British guy Will (Archie Renaux), who mistakenly believes she is the director of Erwin’s New York office.
So far, so good. That is until Ana meets Will’s rich and influential mother Catherine (Lena Olin), who is planning to use Erwin for an auction of her ex-husband’s art collection. Revelling in the luxuries that her lie affords her, Ana has to keep her real job a secret while she continues to socialise with Catherine and Will. How long can Ana keep her lying before she’s found out?
The obvious place to start with ‘Upgraded’ is ‘Cinderella’. The similarities between the two stories are striking with Ana very much in the Cinderella role with Claire as her evil stepmother and assistants Suzette (Rachel Matthews) and Renee (Fola Evans-Akingbola) as her step-sisters. Ana is over-worked and under-paid, and it’s her aspiration to achieve more in her life and career that leads her down a path of lies that could very well end her dreams before they’ve had chance to take flight. Like Cinderella, Ana has to continue the charade until it’s time to return home and no one will be none the wiser.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Ana’s lies have a time limit and inevitably everyone finds out what she’s up to. How that unfolds may not be exactly as you expect with the writers putting a feminist spin on Ana’s behaviour, almost excusing her deceit as some kind of modern feminism where Ana is ‘doing what it takes’ to achieve her dreams. How that sits with you morally may raise a few questions but the film’s familiar beats mean that there aren’t too many surprises along the way.
The love story at the centre of ‘Upgraded’ is relegated to a secondary plot. Ana is drawn to the handsome Will but she’s more focused on advancing her career than she is finding the love of her life. With the knowledge that her lies could come back to haunt her at any time, Ana’s relationship with Will is treated as nothing more than a temporary fantasy for her. There is an attempt to turn it into something a little more real but the film chooses to put more focus on Ana’s burgeoning friendship with Catherine and her allure to a different social class than she’s used to.
While ‘Upgraded’ may not exactly reinvent the wheel, and it doesn’t really rise past entertaining to be a truly great rom-com, the film is carried pretty much squarely by a magnetic Camila Mendes. She was the standout in ‘Riverdale’ and she proves that she has what it takes to lead a film. Mendes is better than the material she’s given to work with here, but she punches above it to ensure the audience stays on side with Ana. Lena Olin and Marisa Tomei offer solid support with scene-stealing roles too, which provide plenty of entertainment.
‘Upgraded’ isn’t going to be the best romantic comedy you see but it’s probably going to land among the better ones that are made for streaming services. It has a spritely cast that pulls together for a solid ensemble piece, but the lack of anything new means the film doesn’t really ever hit the heights it aspires to. Camila Mendes is the best thing about the film, and I hope she gets more lead roles after this, but a murky moral message and a slightly unconvincing third act may not land with the film’s target audience.
Cast: Camila Mendes, Archie Renaux, Marisa Tomei, Lena Olin, Anthony Head Director: Carlson Young Writers: Christine Lenig, Luke Spencer Roberts & Justin Matthews Certificate: 12 Duration: 104 mins Released by: Prime Video Release date: 9th February 2024
