Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the ending of “Upgraded.”
“Upgraded” star Camila Mendes considers her character’s arc to be a rags-to-riches path, but more in terms of her self-esteem and confidence.
In Carlson’s Young directorial debut, Mendes plays Ana Santos, a young art historian with the aspiration of curating her own gallery one day. As an unpaid trainee at a premiere NYC auction house Erwin’s, Ana couch surfs at her sister’s apartment, where her sister’s fiancé constantly verbalizes his hope that Ana will find her own footing soon. In a stroke of luck, Ana points out a major error during an auction right before the piece involved goes into bidding, landing her a third assistant job to fierce Claire Dupont (Marisa Tomei) on a trip to London for a major auction.