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Above and Below

Play trailer 2:03 Poster for Above and Below Released Apr 15, 2016 1h 59m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 44% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Filmmaker Nicolas Steiner documents the exploits of three homeless people in Las Vegas, a man who lives in a military bunker in the California desert and a woman at a Utah research station that simulates life on Mars.
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Above and Below

Critics Reviews

View All (12) Critics Reviews
Nicolas Rapold New York Times The montage of Mr. Steiner's movie actively looks for links among his subjects: fierce self-sufficiency, absent but not forgotten family, and unachieved dreams. But the most stirring moments can be the stillest ones ... Apr 14, 2016 Full Review Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice The film is a wonder of desert skies, slick tunnels, bumptious fence- and wall-climbing, and occasional staged reveries. Apr 14, 2016 Full Review Clayton Dillard Slant Magazine The documentary lingers on silences and reveals its subjects only through moments of quotidian behavior. Rated: 3/4 Apr 10, 2016 Full Review Julia Raban The Stranger (Seattle, WA) The part of this documentary that makes it honest and refreshing is the concession that society, with all its strict rules and warped ideologies and environmental desecration, isn't really what these characters are running from. Aug 21, 2017 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Less than impressive film. Rated: B- Dec 29, 2016 Full Review Gary Shannon The Young Folks Above and Below is a work of slick artistry but at the cost of something truly transcendent. Rated: 5/10 Apr 18, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Audience Member If you enjoy shaky camera filming the entire time, this is for you. Ruined it for me. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Living in unusual situations could have been a constant thread to hold this movie together. A narrator describing each situation & posing questions to each person or group could have held it together. Instead we're left with a barely edited loop of unrelatable sound bytes. I have questions: Why is a group of people "living" and exploring in full on space suits? Who financed that expedition? Hypothisizing the planet Earyh's doom in 50,000 years sounds ridiculous. Why is desert guy using a blow torch on random fire ants? Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member I had high hopes for this film but found little satisfaction in it. The glowing reviews in the NYT and Variety reflect about 30 minutes out of a two hour mashup. At first, the characters are revealed somewhat sympathetically, as exotic creatures living life on their own terms. But the mood quickly changes to a sort of 'there, but for the grace of god go I', or a relative or an estranged friend. But as it plods along, jump cutting between situations, revealing information in spoonfuls, our patience is worn threadbare. To shake the audience from all this sadness, the audience receives a joke, but the laugh the audience responds with is not with the characters, but at them. In a theater setting, it creates the sort of mob disapproval that is palpable at a Trump rally. At that moment, it felt that all sympathy had left the room, that the audience's suspicions about these characters was justified. To say that these folks are living "off the grid" is incorrect, as they all reveal technological connections (cell phones, laptops) and resourcefulness for mooching off of the same grid. They are not pioneers or farmers but rather hunter gatherers in dumpsters and alleys, availing themselves of social programs helping to support their chosen lifestyles and perhaps receiving additional unrevealed funds, either by theft or other petty crimes. There are suggestions of mental illness, and examples of drug consumption and throughout the film, the smoking of commercially rolled cigarettes. At $5 a pack, I wonder where and how they came to have an endless supply. There are some beautiful landscape shots sprinkled through the film, and occasionally the characters indicate an appreciation for their environment. Their lives are not simply a collection of bad choices, failed relationships and willingness to accept a lifestyle that no one in the theater would wish upon anyone. In their respective environments, each sees some measure art and beauty and some measure of grace, to which, I credit the director for including. This humanizes them and allows at least a small connection with the audience. Ultimately, the film feels phony. How were these characters selected and what was their compensation? Why weren't others who had interactions with the characters interviewed for their perspective? When the director stops being a chronicler, documenting their reality, and starts altering their reality with scenes that would otherwise not have happened, with ping pong balls to crudely tie the threads together, with fireworks for a rock concert pyro-show effect, and with a spending binge in Las Vegas, he is injecting an artificial energy that belies the documentary format. He wants to celebrate with the characters and has made the decision that their lives can be celebrated on the cheap. This is a relief to the now hostile audience and provides the cynical climax to the film. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Above and Below

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Nicolas Steiner documents the exploits of three homeless people in Las Vegas, a man who lives in a military bunker in the California desert and a woman at a Utah research station that simulates life on Mars.
Director
Nicolas Steiner
Producer
Helge Albers, Brigitte Hofer, Cornelia Seitler, Jakob Neuhäusser
Screenwriter
Nicolas Steiner
Distributor
Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co
Maximage GmbH
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 15, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 59m
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