As a surrealist pseudoscience love story this high-concept film is a feat of imagination. Add any real science to this thing and it unravels like a badly made sweater. But for me, it’s still a warm sweater and I enjoyed it. Basically it’s a haves and a have-nots story where the haves live Up Above with their gravity going up and the have-nots live Down Below with gravity going the opposite direction; it’s called Duel Gravity in the film. The film opens with the rules: if anyone from one world goes to the other, they keep their gravity and basically float upward back to their world. Meet Adam and Eden, played by Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst, who meet on mountain peaks, he’s from Down Below and she’s from Up Above. They fall in love and Adam will do anything he can to find a way to see her again, even if it means finding a way to her world. It’s really kind of cool and fun to watch. I mean, director Juan Diego Solanas and his effects team succeed at creating a beautifully new world that’s a wonder to behold. The story has a few holes in it, especially with the main character’s inconsistent motivation or lack of motivation at the end. Yes, if you overanalyze this concept too many questions pop up but if you just go with it and accept it for what it is and that is a clever love story, it’s an enjoyable experience. Grade: B
Spoiler Talk
I wanted to elaborate on the film’s big problem. Basically Adam at the end gives up and it’s Eden and Bob who find a way for Adam to be with her. It’s never satisfying to see your hero give up and then have another character make the story a happy ending. It’s so passive and makes a possible strong hero weak and unlikeable. As soon as it gets hopeless, we needed to see Adam make the necessary discoveries to get to the end of this film. Instead it doesn’t even feel like the same person. If not for this flawed ending I think this film would be way better.
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