Includes SPOILERS for Elevation (2024).
Elevation's monsters, the Reapers, are incapable of ascending past 8,000 feet, which serves as a central mechanic in the film. The post-apocalyptic thriller takes place in the Rocky Mountains, where human communities have been forced to flee to heightened altitudes due to the invasion of seemingly indestructible monsters. Elevation's cast is led by Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin, who play Will and Nina, a pair who set out on a mission to Boulder, Colorado, in search of medical supplies for Will's son.
The mission ends up serving a dual purpose. Elevation's ending sees Nina persuade Will to travel with her to her old lab, suggesting she might be able to assemble the tools to kill a Reaper. Nina hypothesizes that an electric pulse would cause a Reaper to self-implode and that a certain chemical mixture could trigger that pulse. By applying cobalt to the mixture, Nina kills the first Reaper and discovers that they're actually mechanically engineered, a massive twist to end the movie.
Elevation Leaves Its 8,000 Feet Rule Ambiguous
Elevation Doesn't Fully Explain Its Main Rule
The fact that the Reapers are machines bolsters the idea of their 8,000-foot rule, as it shows that they were literally programmed not to ascend past a specific altitude. However, the film doesn't reveal why exactly that arbitrary number was implemented. There are some important details about the Reapers, such as the fact that they came from underground, that might hint at the nature of their invention, but it's all speculation unless an Elevation sequel comes out.
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When talking about Elevation (via Nerd Reactor), director George Nolfi said, "Our greatest gift as humans is our rationality, and yet that rationality, particularly collectively, when we use it together, creates nuclear weapons and climate change and AI and all sorts of things that can threaten us." The idea could suggest that the Reapers were mechanically engineered by humans, but the inventors lost control of them, and they began to murder the masses.
Elevation's Post-Credits Scene Could Hint At A Pattern For The Reapers
Elevation's Post-Credits Scene Could Be A Clue, But It's All Speculation
Elevation's post-credits scene shows Will and Nina watching as meteors fall from the sky, just after they'd rallied the human communities to defeat the Reapers in their region. The scene could suggest that a new threat is arriving. If the first wave of Reapers came from underground, it'd be an interesting narrative reflection if the next wave came from the sky. Rather than pushing humans above 8,000 feet, this wave could push them below a certain altitude.
It's to be seen if an Elevation sequel could happen, but if so, the film could reverse the gimmick from the first movie. The sequence in the mines already demonstrated the dangers of the underground, setting the stage for a horrific reality where humanity is forced down below ground level. This would create a pattern to suggest that the Reapers are a series of tests measuring humankind's ability to adapt to new environments. Still, that's mostly speculation, as Elevation leaves its 8,000-feet rule ambiguous.
In the post-apocalyptic Rockies, a father and two women risk their lives by facing monstrous creatures to save a young boy.
Director George Nolfi
Release Date November 8, 2024
Runtime 90 Minutes
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English (US) ·