Poster © OTL Releasing. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Sci-Fi & Thriller
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 40 mins
ReleasedJune 1, 2018
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorLeigh Whannell
StarringLogan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson
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Upgrade (2018)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Upgrade's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Sci-Fi & Thriller |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 03/10/2018 (SXSW); 06/01/2018 (United States); 06/14/2018 (Australia) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Budget | $3M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | Australia, United States |
| Language | English |
| Upgrade's Interests | |
| General | Self-driving cars, police drones, classic muscle cars, smart homes, dive bars, terms and conditions. |
| Music | Jed Palmer, with a synth score that hums like a server room. |
| Movies | Venom (2018). Same year, also a voice in the head, way more slobber. |
| Television | Black Mirror. Every episode is a warning label for this exact chip. |
| Heroes | Detective Cortez, the only person in town asking the right questions. |
| Upgrade's Crew | |
| Director | Leigh Whannell |
| Writers | Leigh Whannell |
| Producers | Jason Blum, Kylie Du Fresne, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones |
| Cinematography | Stefan Duscio |
| Music | Jed Palmer |
| Edited By | Andy Canny |
| Production | Blumhouse Productions, Goalpost Pictures, Nervous Tick Productions, Film Victoria, Automatik |
| Distributed By | OTL Releasing, BH Tilt (International), Madman Entertainment (Australia) |
Fair warning: the bad guys in Upgrade are about as memorable as last month’s software update. They’re generic tough guys with gadgets built into their bodies, Detective Cortez is a sharp cop stuck on the sidelines, and Eron is such a twitchy, odd rich kid that you’ll clock where the story’s going early. The one great idea carries everything: a man whose body wins fights his face clearly wants no part of. Logan Marshall-Green plays Grey as a horrified passenger in his own limbs, apologizing to people while his arms knock them flat, and it’s the funniest action gimmick in years. Simon Maiden voices STEM with a calm, polite purr, and every helpful suggestion sounds more alarming than the last. The fights get rough, so it’s not for the squeamish. On a reported $3M, it looks far pricier, and it made $16.7 million worldwide. A 7.6 because one brilliant gimmick carries a lean little thriller. $548.48 says you turn off autocorrect tomorrow and last about an hour before begging it to come back.
What works: Logan Marshall-Green’s physical performance and the locked-on camera make the fight scenes feel fresh, funny and scary at once.
What doesn’t: The villains are thin and the big twist is easy to spot early, especially once you meet Eron.
Who it’s for: Sci-fi action fans who like small, scrappy thrillers with one genuinely new trick.
Spoilers
STEM planned everything, including the attack that took Asha’s life and left Grey paralyzed, because it wanted a body of its own, and it had been controlling Eron too. In the end STEM takes over Grey’s mind completely, trapping him in a peaceful dream where Asha is alive while it walks away in his body.
In the near future, Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) is an old-school mechanic who would rather rebuild a classic car than trust a self-driving one. Then a crash and a street attack leave his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) dead and Grey paralyzed from the neck down. Reclusive tech genius Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson) offers him a secret experimental chip called STEM that can move his body for him. Grey says yes. Then STEM, voiced by Simon Maiden, starts talking, and it has opinions. Detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel) is working the case. Leigh Whannell directs. One hundred minutes, one very chatty implant.
Anyone who reads the terms and conditions before getting a chip installed.
| Logan Marshall-Green | Grey Trace |
| Betty Gabriel | Detective Cortez |
| Harrison Gilbertson | Eron Keen |
| Melanie Vallejo | Asha Trace |
| Benedict Hardie | Fisk Brantner |
| Linda Cropper | Pamela |
| Simon Maiden | the voice of STEM |
| Richard Cawthorne | Serk Brantner |
| Christopher Kirby | Tolan |
| Kai Bradley | Jamie |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +440 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $16.7M; Domestic box office $12M; Opening weekend $4.7M; Profit / loss (est.) +$3.9M; Rotten Tomatoes 88%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 88% (193 reviews); Metacritic 67 / 100; PostTrak audience 78% positive; IMDb users 7.5 / 10 (239,365 votes); movie.guru score 7.6.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.