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Shane Carruth's elliptical second feature is a masterpiece. Maybe. What's certain is that it's more reserved and austere than similarly high-concept, paranoia-inducing puzzles like Being John Malkovich or Donnie Darko.
Those films bled into the mainstream because they were witty and contained famous and/or highly photogenic faces. Carruth isn’t big on laughs and his cast is mostly made up of semi-attractive unknowns (he himself plays the male lead). What’s fuelling the hype here is the success of Carruth’s cult 2004 debut, Primer. For a certain kind of film-goer, the 41-year-old auteur is the Next Big Thing.
The plot, though that word seems inappropriate, concerns a tight-mouthed yuppie, Kris (Amy Seimetz) whose humdrum, automated life implodes when she ingests a magic maggot. Initially as carefree — and impressionable — as a toddler, she’s left physically and emotionally scarred, financially broke and unable to have kids. Months later, she hooks up with another middle-class casualty, Jeff (Carruth). Kris tries to put the past behind her, but finds herself drawn to a pig farm and an innocuous-looking man who collects sounds. And maggots... Is he evil? Is he good? Might he, in fact, be God?
The questions, like the images, move lightly and in opposite directions. Yet for all the confusion, Upstream Colour has a message: we humans like to repeat things. You may feel a need to watch the film a second time. Don’t panic. Just go with the flow.