Starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, ‘Upgraded’ is a recent romantic comedy directed by Carlson Young. The film starts with Camila Mendes as Ana, an ambitious intern who is trying to make a mark in the art world while trying to impress her boss, Claire. Ana lives with her sister, Vivian and her boyfriend Ronnie in New York. Ana was asked by her boss to come as her third assistant for an upcoming work trip to London. While on the plane she meets William and accidentally leads him to believe that she is the art director of her office in New York. Ana continues to lead her double life as an assistant to Claire and as an art director in front of William and his family. However, things take a turn when William’s mother Catherine pulls out of their major art auction and Ana’s double life comes out and she is dismissed from her job.
“Upgraded” is a story that will motivate you to work hard for your future and break the traditional concept of damsel in distress.
10 Motivational Scenes that Will Motivate You to Work Hard
1) Ana’s Passion for Art (0:00:21-0:04:00)
In the opening scene, we see Ana talking to her sister and her boyfriend about a print of an art painted by Hilma af Klint in 1914. She continues describing to them the beauty of the painting and how it contains dualities of lightness and darkness, masculine and feminine and life and death. We, as the audience, are introduced to Ana’s passion for art and how she has worked hard to get a Master’s degree in Art History and is not ready to give up on her dream and continues working for it.
2) Oil on Wood (0:09:14-0:13:45)
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Another extraordinary scene is when Ana finds a mistake in the cataloguing of auctioning paintings but without fear of getting fired goes into the auctioning room although she is not allowed to enter to notify Claire of the mistake. This shows Ana’s dedication towards her work and art.
3) Going to London (0:16:04-0:18:00)
One of the most significant scenes of the movie is when Claire calls Ana to come with her to London as her third assistant. She is head over heels because this is what she has always wanted. This scene also shows she is excited to start to make progress in her career.
4) Tasks from Claire (0:34:40-0:41:33)
In this sequence, Ana continues to focus on the work she is assigned by Claire although she is sabotaged by other two assistants and they give her a cabin in the basement filled with the smell of Formaldehyde and Rotting wood and an even worse hotel. But none of these things could break Ana down as she started working on her tasks.
5) Deciphering Meaning Behind Paintings (45:47-55:19)
In this scene Ana while attending a party at Catherine’s house starts talking to Julian Marx and Catherine about her love for arts and starts interpreting the meanings behind each of the paintings that Catherine has in her house and how each of the paintings talk about phases of love. She then goes back to the work she is appointed to do by Suzette all night.
6) Handling Both Personal Life and Work Together (1:08:33-1:09:38)
In this small music sequence Ana is seen to be handling both her work and personal life well. She managed to get reservations for Claire with the help of William when others couldn’t. He finishes every work given to her without any delay. Claire is even seen to smile and smirk seeing Ana working, which shows that Claire is also pleased with Ana’s dedication.
7) Claire Praises Ana (1:11:17-1:13:00)
Claire after seeing Ana work hard, invites her into her cabin, appreciates her efforts and promises her that one day all her hard work will be rewarded which makes Ana smile. This is just ‘calm before the storm’ because all the lies Ana has woven about her identity are disclosed.
8) Ana Comes to Clear Catherine (1:21:51-1:29:25)
In this dramatic sequence, Ana comes to clear Catherine about her identity and work. Catherine by surprise was not even angry but helped Ana get her job back. Ana is now in charge of taking care of Catherine’s art collection and decides to dismiss Gerald from the team because he is known to be notorious. Ana expresses how she has always looked up to Claire and her expertise. Ana and Claire talked about the opening bids and both of them think that those works are undervalued. Claire also expressed that she likes her.
9) Auction of Brovil Collection (1:30:33-1:32:00)
The Brovil Collection auction is a success. Everyone appreciates Ana and Claire for their hard work. Even Claire’s assistants who used to look down upon Ana appreciate her and call her an ‘inspiration’. Claire comes up to Ana and says she will be flying with her in first class because that’s where she belongs, she does not need any upgrade anymore. In this scene, the audience can see that Anna’s hard work and diligence are slowly paying off. She is one step closer to achieving her dream of opening an art gallery.
10) Ana Santos’ Art Gallery (1:37:45-1:39:42)
Ana successfully starts an art gallery of her own where she cherishes art. She fulfils her dream. Claire came to the art exhibition held in Ana’s art gallery and admired each other from afar showing respect for one another’s choice. In this scene the audience sees two equally powerful women out in the world chasing dreams and never giving up.
“Upgraded” Ending Explained
Although Ana was living her lie in London every lie has to come to an end. Ana’s lies were caught and she was dismissed from her position. She understood lying would not take her anywhere. She felt lost without a job, home or any loved person in an unknown country. She decided to end all the lies all at once because she had nothing to lose anymore and went back to Catherine.
She told Catherine about everything and how everything started with a misunderstanding and could not stop lying once she found out she had been more productive in her job when she had a fake identity because she disliked herself. Catherine is not angry with Ana, she helped Ana get her job back and also appointed her as in charge of her art collection. This increased Ana’s respect in front of her colleagues and also knowledge of art was appreciated by Claire herself. The auction that they arranged was a success and ultimately Ana got to fulfil her lifelong dream of opening her art gallery.
This is a story of hard work and never giving up on dreams. If you are someone who likes to watch movies that will motivate you to work hard then this movie is perfect for you. Watch it on Prime Video!
