Release Date: November 21, 2013 (Online)
Director: Justin Cole
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 1/10
At best, Justin Cole’s The Upper Footage can be looked at as a marketing marvel. The insane viral marketing campaign that spanned years and stretched across nearly the entire width of the internet is impressive to say the least. At worst, it’s a poorly made found footage film that is absolute torture to sit through.
The film itself is supposedly a 90-minute cut of an actual 393 minute video in which a group of loud-mouthed, racist, sexist, drug-addicted New York socialites party and subsequently hide the body of a girl who overdoses in their presence.
The big problem with the film lies within the characters, who are completely deplorable in every way. It’s insulting to think that anyone would take interest in watching anything these assholes are doing. We’ve seen a lot of films that take aim at disaffected youth as of late, but unlike Spring Breakers, The Bling Ring, or even Larry Clark’s Bully, there’s simply nothing to these characters, or the story. It’s not an ironic cautionary tale, it’s literally an hour and a half of douche bags being horrible human beings. It’s obviously a statement about how superficial and shallow the youth of the 1% are, but these people are so terrible it makes the film almost unwatchable. To make matters worse, the main subject of the film who overdoses has her face blurred the entire time so we’re even more disconnected from the one person we’re supposed to feel something for. I’m sure people like this exist, but why would we want to bother with them?
If this is indeed only 90 of 393 minutes, I shutter to think what was left out of this boring train wreck of a movie. While it’s surely designed to infuriate all those who see it, there is nothing compelling, endearing, or entertaining to redeem it. Although I knew only one of them was going to die, part of was praying that all their heads would just explode so the end credits would roll.
For those that are wondering if the film is real or not, I’ll save you the trouble- it’s not. While I credit the filmmaker for creating one of the most convincing found footage movies I’ve ever seen, it’s evident from nearly the beginning that what is transpiring is not reality. Other than the “actors” not being very convincing, the film employs a lot of the typical found footage tropes we’ve seen before. Long static shots of a wall, or someone’s hair for minutes on end with nothing happening. If this was actually 393 minutes, why would they include so many pointless shots of nothing?
The Upper Footage plays out like the worst aspects of everything Brett Easton Ellis has ever written and combines it into a 90-minute nothing of a film. If you’re in the mood to watch a group of rich dicks mistreat women, spout racial slurs, and freak out, than The Upper Footage is for you. For everyone else, stay miles away from this one. If anything, this should be watched as an exercise in media manipulation. The story behind it is way more interesting than the film itself, and if I was going to factor in the gimmick and marketing of this film it would score much higher.
