Upstream Color - DVD Review

Starring Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig and Thiago Martins.
Directed by Shane Carruth.

★★★½

I never thought I'd love a movie that was told in mostly montages, but this weird, weird movie pulled it off.  It has a plot in its head, but if it was told straightforward, I don't think it would make much sense.  By telling the story in a more abstract fashion, it worked, leaving more open for interpretation.

We find a man identified as the Thief, who's found a drug that he can put in worms.  When a person ingests the worm, it puts them in a hypotized state, where the person will do or see anything someone else says.  While in this state, the Thief gets the person to empty their bank accounts and take large loans. He makes off with the money, and the victim is left with amnesia.  We see this happen to Kris (The Killing's Amy Seimetz), and there is another man identified as the Sampler.  The Sampler helps extract the worm from her system, and he then puts the worm into a pig.

Months later, she's getting her life back on track, and somewhere in there she meets Jeff (Carruth), whom we gather had the same thing happen to him. And it goes from there.

How much choice to we have in the choices we make? Why do people connect? How much of this was in her head? It's all open. I have my own theories on what it all meant, what really happened, and I've started reading the others. It's a movie that made my mind swim.