By John McDonald - January 28, 2025
Creating something new and unique in the sci-fi genre might be seen as an impossible task. It’s as broad a genre as it comes, and with a stellar imagination at your disposal, the possibilities are endless. George Nolfi’s latest film, Elevation results in disappointment though. It tries to be distinctive and fresh; it ultimately falls flat due to rehashed ideas and a lack of refinement with the rest. It’s a made-for-Syfy version of A Quiet Place, as the characters sneak around trying to go undetected by bulletproof metallic monsters. Wrapped in poor CGI, uninspired writing, and less-than-memorable acting by its cast, Elevation sure does fail in so many areas, and yet still, it has an oddly entertaining charm.
Could you survive at 8000 ft in the barren but beautiful Rocky Mountains if a horde of animal-like monsters wait for you below? That’s the case for a commune of survivors who have taken to the mountains to escape the seemingly indestructible predators that lurk at the bottom.
It begins with a news report (the first of many sci-fi motifs) about the invasion of these creatures and the resulting apocalypse that follows. Years later, Will (Anthony Mackie) lives in a makeshift mountain village with his son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr) and a group of survivors. Among them is Nina (Morena Baccarin), the reclusive former scientist who lives with a bottle in her hand and a sniper at her bedside but also claims to have discovered the solution to kill these enemies. Will decides to head back down to Boulder to find medication for Hunter whose illness has progressively gotten worse. He enlists the help of Nina, whom he says “owes him one” after a previous incident involving Will’s late wife, Tara.
Katie (Maddie Hasson), a young woman and former best friend of Tara joins the duo, much to the elation of Nina. Katie is brash and brazen; from Texas and knows about guns but lacks common sense and could put everyone’s lives in danger. The trio embark on their expedition which soon turns dangerous when they travel below 8000 ft (still unsure why the monsters cannot venture further up) and experience a close call while travelling up a defrosted ski slope.
The group begin to learn more about the invaders; how they’re predators that kill for fun not food, and sense humans via their carbon dioxide-filled exhales. As they make their way to Boulder, their encounters become frequent and extremely dangerous. Will then decides to drop a curveball on the others regarding a change of direction in their journey, which throws everything up in the air: Hunter’s health, creating the weapon that ends this war, and the survival of humankind.
The monster designs are interesting, but it is a shame that they are never fully utilised to show what they can properly do seeing as we only witness one death – it’s an absolute travesty when you think about it. The film’s dodgy CGI often takes the shine away and pushes it into the genre of B-movie rather than Hollywood big time. The wild horses are even computer-generated which makes the monsters look more authentic. Working with a moderate budget, corners will always be cut which diminishes the quality. It's especially the case with sci-fi films, which often become more successful with bigger expenditures. Elevation is a film that had dreams of a big budget but had to make do with what it was given and never quite got over it.
The writing is also very ordinary. The plot twist (if you can call it that) was predictable but also seemed extremely rushed during its big moment. The dialogue is about as deflated as it gets, with not one ounce of authentic conversation between the characters during the entire film. Each scene consists of the actors reading from an invisible teleprompter, and the process didn’t inspire the actors either. Mackie is very one-dimensional and the uber-serious method he took on for his character becomes tedious. Baccarin is marginally better but doesn’t quite pull off the alcoholic, trauma-ridden hermit in the way that they probably thought she would. The rest of the cast (apart from Hasson who has some scenes of note) are non-existent with the commune itself being left completely unexplored as well.
While missing all those distinctive qualities, Elevation also has some surprising positives though. The score is an effective tool for delivering suspense. Instead of drowning out the scenes, it works in tandem with the pacing to create a real atmosphere of dread at times. It’s a gorgeous setting to focus a film on though and has solid cinematography that accentuates the beauty of the Rockies to great success. The film comes into its own when the music and camera framing marry up with one another for a big reveal in the dark or a during thrilling chase scene. The film’s inconsistencies make it nearly impossible for the technical aspects to peacock in front of its audience, so it’s nice to see when it does work. But even these, as good as they are, can’t pull Elevation from the brink of a forgetful existence, and this dystopian thriller, which had the makings of something quite inventive, falls flat for its entire 90-minute run time.
Streaming now on Prime Video
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