If you’re a fan of smart sci-fi, breathtaking landscapes, and high-stakes survival, Elevation is absolutely worth your time. The strong performances, sharp direction, and a mystery that grips you until the very end make it an easy recommendation.
🥃 Rating: PREMIUM POUR (4/5) – Highly Recommended (see rating system explained here)
✅ WATCH IT? Absolutely. This is the good stuff.
A Sci-Fi Thriller That Climbs to New Heights
Some movies pull you in with spectacle. Others thrive on mystery. Elevation does both, delivering a thrilling, high-concept sci-fi mystery that mostly maintains its grip on you from its opening moments and never lets go. Now streaming on HBOMax, the film is visually stunning, with some emotional storylines, and packed with tension that keeps you hooked until the final frame.
What sets Elevation apart from other sci-fi thrillers isn’t just its mystery or its striking landscapes—it’s the personal, high-stakes drama at its core. This is a story about a father, a scientist, and survival at the edge of the world.
The Story: Survival at 8,000 Feet
The world has changed. Without giving us the entire backstory (kind of a bummer, but okay not a total loss), monsters burrowed out of the ground and killed 95% of the world’s population in short order. Survivors learned that they were safe above 8000 ft. No real explanation here, but maybe we’ll find out in the sequel (see below). Anthony Mackie stars as Miles, a former rescue pilot who now only has one priority—keeping his chronically ill son alive in the high-altitude refuge they call home.
Miles has managed to stay above the 8000 ft line post apocalypse in a little mountain town, doing whatever it takes to protect his son, whose severe breathing problems make even the idea of leaving the mountains unthinkable. But when his sons air filter supply runs out, he decides that he HAS to make the 20 mile journey to Boulder. And the one person who might be of some help is the angry, alcoholic physicist (Morena Baccarin). She’s been drinking and working on a theory about how to kill the unkillable monsters and he asks her to go with. Turns out the last time she and others went below the line everyone including Miles’ wife, died.
Mackie & Baccarin Steal the Show
Anthony Mackie is phenomenal here, delivering a performance filled with quiet desperation, brooding, anger, and resilience. His portrayal of a father who is equal parts protector and prisoner of his circumstances makes every decision, every argument, and every risk feel real. You believe he will do anything to keep his son safe—until that belief is put to the test.
Morena Baccarin, meanwhile, is a fun watch as Dr. Lena Corbin, a physicist whose brilliance is matched only by her self-destructive streak. She drinks too much, fights too hard, and pushes too many people away. But beneath that rage and bitterness is someone who just might hold the key to stopping the monsters—if she can live long enough to make it to Boulder.
Their chemistry is pretty good—a dynamic built on clashing survival instincts that slowly morph into something resembling trust. The film’s best moments come not from its monsters, but from the brutal, honest conversations between these two broken people, forced together by fate.
Direction & Cinematography: Haunting & Beautiful
Director George Nolfi understands that isolation is a character in itself, and it shows in every frame of Elevation. The sweeping mountain vistas, the thin-air silence, and the frozen, breathless tension all create a sense of unease and isolation that makes the film feel more grounded and real and the action sequences are intense but restrained—Nolfi knows that what you don’t see is just as terrifying as what you do. He’s working from a pretty good script by relative newbies Jacob Roman and Kenny Ryan.
Unlike many sci-fi thrillers that get bogged down in exposition, Elevation is smart enough to let its mystery unfold naturally. There’s enough explanation to keep you hooked but plenty of unanswered questions to keep the tension high. The film masterfully balances its sci-fi elements with human drama, keeping the focus on the characters’ struggles, fears, and sacrifices rather than just the larger-than-life threat.
And when the final act arrives? It delivers.
Elevation Final Verdict: A Sci-Fi Thriller That Delivers
If you’re a fan of smart sci-fi, breathtaking landscapes, and high-stakes survival, Elevation is absolutely worth your time. The strong performances, sharp direction, and a mystery that grips you until the very end make it an easy recommendation.
And that ending? It sets up a sequel we’ll be first in line to see.
🥃 Cocktail Pairings for Elevation
To fully immerse yourself in the world of Elevation, sip on one of these two options while you watch:
1️⃣ The Summit Elixir – A bold, herbal whiskey cocktail inspired by the mountain survivalists in the film.
2️⃣ The Alpine Drift – A simpler, at-home-friendly version with the same adventurous flavors.
📌 Check out the full recipes in separate posts!
🍸 Final Call: Watch It. Drink Up. Elevate Your Movie Night.
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