Upside Down
They were born in different worlds, pulled apart by gravity and brought back together by something neither world can control.
Director
Juan Solanas
Release
27 September 2014
Runtime
108 Minutes
Certificate
12
Synopsis
Adam grows up in the lower of two neighbouring worlds. The planets exist so close together that their landscapes can almost touch, yet their inhabitants experience completely separate gravitational forces. Matter originating in one world remains attracted to that world's gravity. That makes crossing between them extremely difficult. It is also tightly controlled. As a child, Adam climbs to a mountain peak where he discovers Eden, a girl from the world Above. Their opposite gravitational pulls mean the two can meet across the narrow space separating their worlds. What begins as friendship becomes love. But relationships between people from Above and Below are forbidden. When authorities discover them, Adam and Eden attempt to escape. Eden falls. Adam believes she's dead. Years pass. Adam grows into a young man working on a cosmetic product based on a formula developed from his aunt's research. His work eventually brings him into contact with TransWorld, the vast corporate structure linking the two planets. Then Adam sees Eden on television. She's alive. And she works inside the same building. Adam becomes determined to reach her. With help from TransWorld employee Bob Boruchowitz, he begins using matter from Above to counteract his own gravity, allowing him to function temporarily as though he belongs in Eden's world. But matter from the opposite world eventually heats up and burns. Adam therefore has only limited periods in which he can remain Above before his disguise becomes dangerous. Reaching Eden presents another problem. The accident left her with memory loss. She doesn't remember their relationship the way Adam does. He has crossed gravity itself to find the woman he loves. Now he has to discover whether their connection can survive everything that happened after they were torn apart.
The Movie Trailer
Adam and Eden live remarkably close to one another.
The problem is that they live in different worlds.
Two planets exist directly alongside each other, each possessing its own gravity. People and objects belonging to one world remain tied to it even when they cross into the other.
Above is wealthy, powerful and prosperous.
Below is poorer, exploited and largely controlled by the world hanging over it.
Adam comes from Below.
Eden comes from Above.
They meet as children on neighbouring mountain peaks where the two worlds almost touch and form a relationship that breaks one of their societies' most fundamental rules.
People aren't supposed to cross between worlds.
They certainly aren't supposed to fall in love across them.
When an attempt to meet ends disastrously, Adam believes Eden has died.
Years later, he discovers she survived.
Now working inside TransWorld — the enormous corporation connecting the two planets — Eden is physically closer to Adam than she's been since childhood.
Getting to her means finding a way to defy gravity, cross into a world where he doesn't belong and risk everything for the possibility that she might still remember him.
TWO WORLDS
They Can See Each Other's World Every Day — But They're Not Supposed to Touch It
The clever idea behind Upside Down isn't simply that two planets possess opposing gravity.
It's what society has done with that difference.
Above and Below aren't equals.
One world enjoys wealth and opportunity while the other provides resources and receives considerably less in return.
The inhabitants can literally look into another society hanging above their heads.
Yet crossing the gap between them remains forbidden for most people.
Adam and Eden therefore don't simply come from different backgrounds.
Their entire universe has been structured to keep them apart.
GRAVITY
Adam Can Cheat Gravity — Just Not for Very Long
To enter Eden's world, Adam must effectively disguise the physical laws governing his body.
By attaching matter originating from Above, he can counteract his natural gravitational pull.
For a while, he can walk through Eden's world as though he belongs there.
But the trick comes with a nasty limitation.
Matter taken into the opposite gravitational field eventually begins heating up.
Stay too long, and Adam's solution literally starts burning him.
Every visit therefore comes with a clock attached.
He hasn't beaten gravity.
He's borrowed enough time to argue with it.
ADAM & EDEN
Crossing Two Worlds Is Only Half the Battle When Eden Doesn't Remember Him
Adam spends years believing Eden died.
Discovering she's alive gives him an almost impossible objective and, for the first time, a reason to attempt it.
But finding Eden doesn't restore what they lost.
The accident changed her.
Adam carries years of memories from their childhood relationship while Eden doesn't initially share them.
That makes the central obstacle more interesting than simply getting from Below to Above.
Adam can invent a way around gravity.
He can't invent Eden's memories.
He has to give her the chance to rediscover their connection for herself.