Review of Upstream Color (2013) by Hoops2448 — 10 Sep 2013

Writing a review about Upstream Color implies I have gotten as much as I possibly want from the film out of it but that couldn't be further from the truth as truly understanding this stream of conscious thought would take more than a few watches and honestly I don't think my wallet can take the enlightenment.

When Kris (Amy Seimetz) is accosted by a mysterious stranger and implanted with a mind altering parasite, her ideal life is upended and the only thing that seems to return her to a modicome of normalcy is Jeff (Shane Carruth), a man who has been through a similar experience that she meets on a train.

While the film does demand you fill in the films many plot holes with your own imagination, it isn't the same lazy storytelling technique that made Only God Forgives so intolerably stupid. The film sets a framework for the viewer, one that we must populate with our own thoughts, our own ideas about what it all means.

Without our input and our sense of self this film wouldn't work. It's a special picture because no one sees the same thing or comes to the same conclusion. The connection Kris makes with this creature is a way of discussing not only the natural cycle of things on this planet but the concept of symbiosis, the coming together of two organisms and the bond the two form as they work with each other.

This is something interpreted by Kris and Jeff's importance to each other but also through Kris' relationship to the parasite, something she cannot see but she knows somehow is there. Seimetz proves herself one to watch as she brings out so much in a dialogue light script.

Her actions tell a wealth of story while leaving as much to self interpretation as possible. It's an exercise in expanding your mind but also in letting go and enjoying a trippy but complex love story between not only a man and a woman but a woman and a parasite.