Average Bufph Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Amy Seimetz, Frank Mosley, Shane Carruth
2013
A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
I found 'Upstream Color' to be an ambitious and deeply abstract exploration of consciousness, identity, and human connection that challenged me in ways few films do. Shane Carruth's follow-up to 'Primer' creates a dreamlike narrative about two people connected through a bizarre biological cycle involving parasites, pigs, and orchids. While I appreciated the film's experimental approach and stunning cinematography, I struggled with its deliberately opaque storytelling and fragmented structure. The themes of memory manipulation and loss of agency reminded me of elements I loved in 'Under the Skin' and 'Solaris', but the execution felt almost impenetrably abstract at times.
Despite my admiration for Carruth's ambition and the film's unique visual poetry, I found it difficult to emotionally connect with the characters or fully grasp the intended meaning. The scientific concepts underlying the plot intrigued my engineering background, but the narrative's refusal to provide clear explanations left me more frustrated than enlightened. It's undoubtedly a work of art that will reward multiple viewings, but it didn't resonate with me as strongly as more accessible cerebral sci-fi like 'Arrival' or 'Ex Machina'.
