Movie Review: NO WAY UP

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: February 16th, 2024 / 12:44 AM

NO WAY UP movie poster | ©2024 RLJE Films

Rating: R
Stars: Sophie McIntosh, Will Attenborough, Jeremias Amoore, Manuel Pacific, Grace Nettle, Phyllis Logan, Colm Meaney, James Carroll Jordan
Writer: Andy Mayson
Director: Claudio Fäh
Distributor: RLJE Films
Release Date: February 16, 2024

NO WAY UP manages to put a respectably straight face on its multi-disaster movie premise. First, there’s the airplane crash catastrophe, as a notably rickety jet blows on engine and plummets into the Pacific as it heads from LAX to Cabo San Lucas.

Then we get a variation on THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. Yes, the plane does stay right-side up, but it gradually fills up with water as it slides around on the ocean floor. The survivors try to figure out the best course of action. As the title suggests, this is quite a dilemma.

Finally, there are sharks (plural), probably drawn by the blood of injuries, and creating more of their own. Since there is emphasis placed on sharks’ fear of bubbles, it seems a bit of a stretch that they’d so readily approach something so air-pocket-producing as a downed plane, but hey. Once it gets going, NO WAY UP makes it clear that it wants to pile on crises, and adding sharks to the mix is just about irresistible.

The script by Andy Mayson makes a point of noting that the plane is comparatively empty, which allows NO WAY UP to focus on a small group. These include governor’s daughter Ava (Sophie McIntosh), who is struggling with whether to continue at law school or go into business like Dad wants; her highly capable bodyguard Brandon (Colm Meaney); Ava’s boyfriend Jed (Jeremias Amoore), who objects to Brandon’s presence; Ava and Jed’s snappy pal Kyle (Will Attenborough), the family grouping of grandparents Hank (James Carroll Jordan) and Mardy (Phyllis Logan) and ten-year-old granddaughter Rosa (Grace Nettle), and helpful flight attendant Danilo (Manuel Pacific).

The characters serve the scenario, with Logan and Meaney as standouts. Both are given solid back stories, and both are thoughtful and measured enough to draw focus, even under the wild circumstances.

Director Claudio Fäh stages some truly harrowing sequences both midair and underwater, throwing in some strong jump scares. He also provides perspective, showing us the still surface of the water, where it’s almost impossible to detect from above the turmoil below.

With its everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink list of calamities, NO WAY UP could easily become a parody of its genre. Instead, it is contained and well-made enough for it to succeed at being a pretty decent representative of its category. For the right viewers, it’s all that and a complimentary bag of airline pretzels.

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