Upstream Color (2013)

A woman sits disoriented on a couch. A mysterious man walks in and places a pitcher of ice water on the table. It appears he is in control of her mind, or something. He tells her that his head is made of the same material as the sun. She is ordered to carry out a series of tasks over a few days, and then she is finally released from this trance when she finds herself at a farm and goes through some kind of strange procedure that involves transferring her blood—and the worm inside her body—to a squealing pig. What I’ve just described to you is the first half hour or so of Shane Carruth’s new film Upstream Color, and it is no doubt enough to make you wonder just what the heck I’m talking about. The thing is: this is probably as straightforward as the film gets. Over the course of 90 minutes, Carruth’s second feature takes us on a hypnotizing and singular journey that absolutely means something. What this meaning actually is will probably be debated for quite some time.

The story of Carruth is a fascinating one, and if you want to learn more about him I highly recommend you check out this Grantland profile that was published a few weeks back. He came out of nowhere back in 2004 with his time travel film Primer, and while it never achieved real box office success it was a hit at Sundance and has since become a cult phenomenon. Like Upstream Color, it’s a film that has a great deal of faith in the audience’s ability to follow along, and to this day no one seems completely sure of what happens in that movie. Weirdly enough, Primer never really connected with me. It was without a doubt the work of a ridiculously intelligent, talented filmmaker, but its reliance on the puzzle aspects of its story ultimately put me off. Upstream Color is just as puzzling, if not more so. However, it is a film that deals with human problems rather than mechanical ones, no matter how absurd those human problems may be depicted.

This is Carruth’s first film since that 2004 breakthrough, and the reason for the delay ultimately comes down to him not quite getting the support he wanted in Hollywood for his second film. The normal path for a filmmaker post-Primer would be to head to Los Angeles and work your way into the system. Carruth indeed tried that, but it didn’t take. He is obsessive about his work. He writes, directs, produces, acts, shoots, edits and scores his projects. There isn’t a major studio on Earth who would let him get away with that. His need for absolute control even comes down to the way he is putting his work out there. Upstream Color is entirely self-distributed, which means an ultra-limited theatrical release at best. Carruth doesn’t have the resources for anything too widespread. Luckily for movie fans who don’t live in a limited release area, the film’s official website seems to suggest it will be released online on May 7.

You’re going to want to mark that date down, because Upstream Color is an adrenaline shot of invention in the middle of an otherwise painfully boring cinematic year. It is a movie that has never been made before, and that is a triumph in his own way. Carruth himself eventually shows up as one of the protagonists, but the film is anchored by a magnificent performance from Amy Seimetz as Kris, a special effects artist who goes through the profoundly strange experience I described in the opening paragraph and then attempts to get back to normal life. This involves starting a relationship with Carruth’s Jeff, an awkward divorcee who lives in exclusively in hotels and seems to be going through some similar trauma. As their newfound connection chugs along, things only manage to get weirder and weirder. The other main character is Sampler (Andrew Sensenig), a farmer (?) who watches over a group of pigs. One of these pigs went through the aforementioned procedure with Kris. When he walks up to them he is able to look into the lives of others, which leads one to believe that this procedure has happened many times before to many other people. Eventually the Sampler and Kris/Jeff stories collide, but in a way that only raises more questions than answers. Again, this is the easy stuff I’m describing here. I won’t even try to get into the really difficult aspects of the film.

After one viewing, it is impossible to dictate just what Upstream Color is truly going for. One of the most common things explored is the idea of connections, and how people and things interact with the other people and things around them. There are the voyeur types, like Sampler, there are people who are perfectly functional members of society, and then there are those who are trying to find a way to live a normal life after a life-altering experience. Kris and Jeff are two such people. Everything the film does seems to support these kinds of ideas, but just when you think you’re on the same wavelength it veers off into an even weirder direction and you’re left running to catch up.

It’s a fine line that this film is walking. When these types of projects are done poorly, the audience will eventually throw their hands in the air and give up. When done well, attempting to keep up with all the questions and leaps of faith becomes an exhilarating practice rather than an exhausting one. That is the thrill of Upstream Color. It is able to combine gorgeous Malickian cinematics with a wholly original world, and it is so sure of itself every step of the way that I always had complete faith that it was going to take me somewhere worthwhile. One of the highest compliments I can give a puzzler like this is that I wanted to see it again the second it finished. That was not the case with Primer. When that was over I knew why so many people seemed intrigued by it, but I also knew that I was not one of them. Many will be similarly put off by the abstractions of Upstream Color, particularly in its third act, but this time I am thrilled to count myself among the believers. This is an extraordinary work by an artist that clearly does not see things through the same lens as 90 percent of the human race. When you’re a filmmaker, that’s not a bad trait to have.

Grade: A

(This can go way down should I watch it again and feel unfulfilled, but this is mostly here to make sure you all get how serious I am about wanting you to see this movie. You hear me?)