After her 2021 Sundance premiered film ‘The Blazing World,’ actor turned director Carlson Young is back with the original Prime Video film ‘Upgraded (2024)’ starring Camila Mendes (Do Revenge, Riverdale) as Ana – an ambitious intern who wants to make a career in the art world. The Devil Wears Prada-esque journey begins with her demanding boss, Claire (played by Marisa Tomei), and her first work trip that doesn’t just lead her to a romance with a handsome British fellow Will (Archie Renaux) but also makes her taste a life, a character she tries to inhabit when she is upgraded to business class. Will taking the plunge and lying her way through her trip help Ana achieve the things she wants to? Let’s deep dive into Upgrade – what happens in the movie and what that ending actually means for our protagonist.
Please be aware that this article will be full of spoilers, proceed at your own risk.
Upgraded (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Ana Santos (Camila Mendes) is an art graduate working as an intern at an auction house named Erwin under the famous Claire Dupont (Marisa Tomei) – New York’s famous art dealer. As much as she wants her life to revolve around the art world, Ana seems to be stuck at an entry-level job. She stays with her sister and her brother-in-law, who wants her to be out of the house as soon as possible. Ana tries her best to get that one shot she needs in this internship. However, nothing seems to come her way.
That is until the perfectionist art dealer, Claire, assigns Ana as her third assistant in London after she points out a minor mistake that could have tarnished her reputation. The next thing we know, Ana packs her bag and meets Claire’s two very Barbie-doll assistants at the airport, only to find out that she is dragging the bags and carrying files for them. Calaire’s assistants Suzette (Rachel Matthews) and Renee (Fola Evans-Akingbola) are very territorial, treating Ana quite badly. They even booked her cheap seats on a flight that would land at London airport four hours later than their actual arrival. Observing Ana’s situation and how she has to deal with three women, the flight assistant upgrades Ana’s ticket to first class.
Enjoying her time at the lounge, she accidentally spills her drinks on a man who happens to be on the same flight as her. The next thing she knows, she is chitchatting her way to London with the same man named William (Archie Renaux), who had come to New York for a job interview. William assumed Ana to be someone who was a frequent flyer, making Ana continuing with the tale of how she is the youngest art director at Erwins.
Once they arrive at the London airport, William is greeted by his mother, Catherine (Lena Olin), who is also completely taken over by Ana’s charm. Ana finds out that Catherine is also from the art world and has a really posh auction sale coming up. We learn later that Ana and her boss are in London for the same auction. Ana’s actions somehow lead to the auction being canceled, with her boss fuming over who is responsible for it.
The romance that eventually blooms between Ana and Will, with genuine feelings in place, also gets jeopardized because there’s a huge lie at the center of it. Will assumes that Ana, in spite of being a director at the firm, is so earthbound and nice, leading them to fall for each other.
Ana’s lie that leads to the cancellation of the auction is almost caught when she meets Will for lunch, and the same day, her mother pulls her auction away, quoting that she has found more liking for the art she possesses (thanks to Ana again).
However, when Ana is finally caught as the one who spoke to Catherine when photo evidence comes out, she apologizes to Claire for pretending to have her job in front of people. She is thus fired from the company. Ana and Will’s romance is shattered, too, when Will questions her about her work and tells her that she needs to worry about bigger things in life. Ana is mad that someone she likes doesn’t appreciate her work, so she breaks off with him.
Seeing that everything is going down the drain, Ana apologizes to Catherine too for lying to her when she has been so welcoming and nice to a complete stranger. Catherine, who is already really fond of Ana, forgives her instantly and also asks her to come with her to Calire’s office.
Realizing that her pulling off the auction has cost Ana dearly, she walks into Claire’s office along with Ana and tells them that she has decided to get back to the auction, all thanks to Ana. This seals everything back into its place, with Ana leading an auction that helps Claire’s company sell things for hundreds of millions. Ana’s career then skyrockets because of the success at the auction. She is finally able to leave her sister’s couch, too, buying her own apartment from where she runs her own thing now.
Upgraded (2024) Movie Ending, Explained:
Do Ana and Will end up together?
The ending of Upgraded comes down to the question of whether the romance, which is also an important part of the film, comes to fruition. The cute little end of the film shows us Ana at an art gallery event where she notices two small salt and pepper shakers on the table. The time Ana and Will met each other in the business class that she was upgraded to, Ana unknowingly took away the shakers that were given to her during her meals, assuming that she could take them away. In a way the shakers were symbolic of them being strangers to each other where nothing – not even the lie Ana made up mattered because they liked each other instantly.
Will walks in with his suitcase (assuming that he took the New York job that he was talking about), and the two embrace. The door closes with the swan painting from the beginning of the film, signifying that all is forgiven and the two just shared a kiss for their lives together to begin.
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