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Movie
Poster for Upstream

Upstream

2024 · 121 min

A grounded, wryly funny midlife reckoning that slowly tightens into an earnest story of pride, failure and starting over.

Overview
A moment of impulsiveness turns Gao Zhilei into a "stay-at-home" individual, but he never expected his life to take a turn in the opposite direction. A series of changes compel him to take on his responsibilities as the head of the family. When life's burdens hit hard, he must confront himself and start anew.
In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • warmstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • family
  • identity
  • work
  • redemption
  • class
Places
  • big city
  • home
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
None
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror0
Humour4
Realism8
Romance3
Tension4
Darkness5
Complexity5
Emotional weight7

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama
Directed by
Xu Zheng
Written by
Xu Zheng, He Keke
Starring
Xu Zheng, Xin Zhilei, Wang Xiao, Jia Bing, Feng Bing, Ding Yongdai, Ding Jiali, Helen Chen
Music
Fei Peng
Cinematography
Zeng Jian
Runtime
121 min
Country
China
Languages
Mandarin

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