Upgraded (film)

Upgraded is a 2024 American romantic comedy film directed by Carlson Young and starring Camila Mendes, Archie Renaux, Thomas Kretschmann, Grégory Montel, Lena Olin and Marisa Tomei.

The film is a modern-day retelling of the classic fairytale "Cinderella" and was released on Amazon Prime Video on February 9, 2024. The story concerns Ana Santos, an ignored-but-ambitious intern in the New York art world whose life and career take a turn when by happenstance she is upgraded to first class on a flight to London.

Plot
Ana is an ambitious intern, dreaming of a career in art while trying to impress her demanding boss, Claire. Because of the expensive cost of living in New York, Ana lives with her sister Vivian and Vivian's boyfriend Ronnie, who has been urging her to move out. After noticing a typo during an art auction and alerting her boss to the error, she is invited on a work trip to London as an assistant's assistant.

Claire's assistants, Suzette and Renee, make numerous attempts to sabotage Ana. However, it tends to work out in her favor. Ana ends up with upgraded first-class tickets to London. She meets a wealthy man named William at the airport. Ana accidentally misleads William into believing she is the art director of her company's New York office. Impressed, he introduces Ana to his mother, Catherine, a British celebrity.

Ana ends up at Catherine’s and finds herself in the middle of a party. There, she sees Catherine's extensive art collection, meets a famous painter, and continues to lie about being the director of a New York auction house.

She grows closer to William and Catherine. Through their connections, Ana gets Claire last-minute tickets to a performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This impresses Claire, who is currently facing tension with Gerard, the art director for the Paris office, as they vie for the same position.

Ana attends a party with William and Catherine in a designer dress she "borrowed" from Claire. Claire arrives unexpectedly with Suzette and Renee, causing Ana to abruptly leave. William catches her outside and takes her out dancing. At the end of the night, Ana, embarrassed by where she is staying, has William drop her off at Claire's much nicer hotel. Before leaving, William confesses that he is falling in love with her.

Over the next week, Ana and William continue to spend time together, growing closer. He tells her he knows her job is important and has arranged to transfer his work to New York so they can continue their relationship.

Claire praises Ana's hard work at the office and promises her a future promotion. Renee interrupts their meeting to reveal that a major client has just pulled out of their upcoming auction. That client is Catherine, and at that exact moment, William arrives to surprise Ana at work. She rushes him out of the building. William is suspicious about her behavior and tells her he has nothing to do with his mother's decision. He questions whether Ana was using him to secure his mother's sale and breaks up with her. Claire then confronts Ana, who has discovered her lie and her relationship with William's family. She is fired and escorted out of the building.

Ana visits Catherine and confesses the truth. Instead of being upset, Catherine is proud of Ana for her honesty and agrees to rejoin the auction on the condition that Ana is the one who handles the sale. Ana is re-hired and manages to sell Catherine's art for much more than expected. She apologizes to William, who explains that he liked her not because she was rich, but because he thought she was honest.

Ana returns to New York. Six months later, she has not heard from William but is thriving in her career. Ana throws a party to celebrate the opening of her art gallery. At the end of the night, William arrives with a suitcase after everyone else has left.

Production
In August 2022, it was reported that Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux were cast in the film, which entered production in the United Kingdom. The following month, it was announced that Marisa Tomei and Lena Olin were part of the cast.

Release
Upgraded was released by Amazon Prime Video on February 9, 2024.