Elevation – Movie Review (3/5)

ELEVATION is a new sci-fi monster movie in the vein of A Quiet Place and from the same producer. This time, you don’t have to be quiet, but you must stay above 8,000 feet. Of course, you can’t stay there forever, which proves challenging. Read our full Elevation movie review here!

ELEVATION is a new Post-apocalyptic Sci-fi Monster Movie out on PVOD now. It’s a perfect choice for fans of the franchise A Quiet Place which also plays out in a post-apocalyptic world where monsters have made humans their prey. Well, so is the Terminator franchise for that matter.

My point is simply that these movies keep getting made because they’re popular and speak to us on a deep level. Also, they’re usually very entertaining and make you wonder about what you would do in the world presented. If it was more character-focused, it would’ve been better, but it’s still worth watching.

Continue reading our Elevation movie review below. Find it out on VOD in the US now.

Stay elevated to survive

In Elevation, we enter the story three years after creatures burrowed up out of the ground and started killing human beings. No one knows how or why it happened, but someone discovered that the only habitable place for humanity is up high in the mountains.

Specifically, you have to be above 8000 feet.

All over the world, if you’re below 8000 feet, you’re in the world of the creatures that killed 95% of all human beings. Sure, you can go below 8000 feet, but you’ll have to be quick as there’s no way to fight them.

No way that anyone in the remaining human population has discovered yet, anyway.

This extremely hard line of 8000 feet does come with an explanation in the movie, so don’t worry too much about that. Instead, worry about the fact that many countries have no surface area at this height.

Being from Denmark, I certainly worried about that as it’s a pretty flat country. Every Dane in their home country – including tourists, obviously – would be immediately doomed.

Anyway, in this movie, a father (Anthony Mackie) must go below “The Line” for his son. Tagging along is a scientist (Morena Baccarin) he despises, but she’s also the smartest one in their little elevated community. Joining them is a young woman (Maddie Hasson) who wants a life outside the mountains.

Morena Baccarin steals the show

Elevation only really has three main characters. Sure, there are more characters in the movie, but as they leave the safety of elevation, we follow these three characters on a mission.

We have Anthony Mackie as the single father, Will, who needs to find help for his sick son. As the more rebellious Katie, we have Maddie Hasson, while finally, we get the brilliant physicist Nina portrayed by Morena Baccarin.

Of the three characters, Nina is by far the most interesting, and Morena Baccarin (Deadpool & Wolverine) makes her even more intriguing. Not only does she play the character who kept saying what I was thinking, but she also comes across as a more well-rounded and complete character.

The other two are just too shallow for me. Nothing about what Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal) or Maddie Hasson (Malignant) does is bad. It’s just that their characters aren’t that interesting. Nina, on the other hand, is the one trying to get the upper hand on the monsters so that human beings will have a future on the planet.

I will give Elevation credit for having the male character be a single parent, and the female character be the brilliant scientist. Usually, we get a woman playing the “emotional” character and a man as the “logical” one. In this sci-fi monster movie, it’s the opposite and it works extremely well.

Especially, I feel, thanks to Morena Baccarin!

Watch Elevation on PVOD now!

The director of Elevation is George Nolfi, who previously directed Spectral. His directorial debut was the 2011 movie The Adjustment Bureau which incidentally co-starred Emily Blunt, who went on to star in A Quiet Place.

The screenwriters of this new sci-fi monster movie are John Glenn, Jacob Romen, and Kenny Ryan. All three previously worked on the TV series SEAL Team.

The producer of the movie is Brad Fuller, who also produces the genre franchises A Quiet Place and The Purge. What people may not be aware of is that Brad Fuller also produced a lot of horror movies with very familiar titles.

He produced the 2003 horror reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror 2005 remake, the 2009 Friday the 13th, and the 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street. All of these came before the 2013 movie The Purge which started a whole new franchise before A Quiet Place.

MORE HORROR FROM PRODUCER BRAD FULLER

He also produced the Ouija movies and the 2024 horror movie Apartment 7A.

All of this is just to show that his name tends to show up quite often when a new horror movie comes out. Elevation is more of a monster sci-fi action movie whereas A Quiet Place focused on the characters and horror more than action.

I would’ve preferred more focus on the characters in Elevation as well, but with a runtime of just 91 minutes, that’s a pretty tall order. Do make sure you stick around for the mid-end-credit scene that clearly teases a potential sequel.

Elevation premiered in theaters on November 8 and on PVOD on November 26, 2024.

Details

Director: George Nolfi
Writers: John Glenn, Jacob Romen, Kenny Ryan
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson, Shauna Earp, Danny Boyd Jr.