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Up Among the Stars

Name: Up Among the Stars
Director: Zoe Berriatúa
Released: 2018
Duration: 86 min

Representation Score

6.6/10

Good

2018

Director

Zoe Berriatúa

Runtime

86 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Up Among the Stars is a character-driven drama that gains strength by breaking down traditional social roles. By focusing on a vulnerable, struggling father, the film moves away from idealized male clichés and sanitized family structures. However, the film lacks significant diversity. It misses opportunities to include LGBTQ+ perspectives or diverse racial backgrounds, which could have added more complexity to its social commentary.

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Category Breakdown

Does Up Among the Stars have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film centers on a father and son without any explicit depiction of LGBTQ+ identities or relationships that challenge traditional heterosexual norms.

How does Up Among the Stars portray gender?

Fair

Víctor breaks down traditional masculine stereotypes by being a vulnerable, unemployed, and alcoholic protagonist. The story challenges the typical strong father figure by showing his struggles with depression and feeling inadequate as a parent.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Up Among the Stars?

Limited

The film follows a conventional character study without highlighting diverse racial backgrounds or multi-layered dynamics. The cast and narrative focus on a non-Anglo-Saxon majority without much diversity.

How does Up Among the Stars represent religion and culture?

Good

The movie questions the sanctity of the traditional Western nuclear family by showing a fragile and realistic domestic life. It avoids idealized portrayals in favor of a more nuanced and cynical view of family stability.

Does Up Among the Stars include disability representation?

Fair

Mental health and neuro-social challenges are central to Víctor’s character. His depression and alcoholism are integral to his ability to drive the story, focusing on his personal struggles.

Present on Screen

Subverts traditional masculine stereotypes by portraying a male protagonist through a lens of vulnerability and struggle.
Challenges idealized Western family structures by depicting a realistic, precarious domestic life.
Integrates mental health struggles directly into the protagonist's character development and role in the story.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or relationships that challenge traditional heterosexual norms.
Provides little evidence of racial or ethnic diversity within the cast or narrative focus.
The narrow focus on a single nuclear family limits the film's exploration of diverse social issues.

Official Synopsis

Víctor is a film director who is overcome by his own misfortunes. He is an alcoholic, unemployed and terribly depressed, largely because of the death of his wife. However, Victor is still the best in one thing: telling fantastic stories to his nine-year-old son, Ingmar. These stories are each of the scripts he dreams of directing in the future, when he gathers all the necessary resources. Victor and Ingmar share a present full of sadness and precariousness, but also full of robots and locations of films they have seen together. Despite forming a great team, their problems will multiply when others begin to question their role as a father.

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