You know the popular saying “they don’t make them like this anymore!” - they’re comparing classic rom-coms and today's rom-coms. Upgraded definitely fills the void of that constant craving of a new, fresh rom-com that will hit you in the feels and yearn to be swept off your feet, but this one still leaves a little something to be desired. 

 

I can’t exactly pin-point exactly what’s missing because it hits all the rom-com tropes pretty well. Girl struggles in big city with a demeaning arts-based job, then catches  a break in this toxic job, gets upgraded (there’s the pun!) on her flight while traveling for said job, meets a cute guy on the flight, pretends to be someone she’s not while falling for cute guy - you see exactly where I am going here, right? Eventually all of these things will come to a head and could possibly crumble to pieces. Ana (Camila Mendes) is this girl and Claire (Marisa Tomei) is her boss, a well respected art director. Ana is cute, likable, charming and Claire is bossy and uptight—again, all boxes are checked. I couldn’t help but cringe, though, when Ana pretends to be in the position of  her boss, instead of the low on the ranking list intern that she truly is. Especially in 2024 when something like this is easily Googleable it just makes the plot a little difficult to get behind. I found Claire’s sidekick assistants to be incredibly annoying (which I know is the whole point) but I just wish we could get away from the mean girl ideology of women in the workplace. The real question is when and how will Ana be found out? Could the white lie she told destroy her chance of being with William (Archie Renaux), the wealthy meet-cute guy she now really sees herself falling for? 

 

The film is a tight-ish 104 minutes so there are thankfully no real opportunities for it to drag or go astray. With no real threats of disaster or chaos Upgraded can easily fall into a comfort watch category. Assuming that you are looking for a meet cute and a happy ending, you’ve come to the right rom-com.