Upgrade Review: 5 Ups And 1 Down
3. Up: The Plot Effectively Subverts Your Expectations Multiple Times
With a familiar framework (Protagonist loses loved one, seeks revenge), it's easy to assume that Upgrade will stick with a cliché-heavy, unimaginative story. While the revenge story conventions are definitely present, the film finds several moments where it can go against your expectations and have a story element/plot point go in a direction you weren't expecting.
The movie does this multiple times with a major plot twist and its ending, which seems to telegraph the obvious conclusion and instead picks something that is both unexpected AND effective. Won't go into spoilers here, but it does something near the end where you think it's a plot twist (and a bad, clichéd one at that), but actually only plans further into the ultimate conclusion that's likely different than what you're predicting.
The writing of the film may not be its strongest suit, but it was refreshing to see some moments like these that made the next moment feel relatively unpredictable.