'1UP' Review: A story of misfits facing adversity

The narrative follows a gamer who quits her college esports team due to sexism from her male counterparts.

Film: 1UP  
Cast: Paris Berelc, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Ruby Rose, Hari Nef, Lolita Milena, Madison Baines, D. J. Mausner
Director: Kyle Newman
Rating: 1/5

This film is basically about those involved in gaming aka a team of misfits facing adversity, that might seem attractive to those involved in that E-sport. The narrative follows a gamer who quits her college e-sports team due to sexism from her male counterparts. The attempt to address the subject of sexism in the gaming universe is half-hearted at best and leaves a lot to be desired.

Barrett University’s Vivian (Paris Berelc) and Sloane (Hari Nef), students on e-sports scholarship dependent on playing for ‘Betas,’ find the derogatory gender discrimination treatment and sexist innuendos from team leader Dustin (Taylor Zakhar Perez), too much and decide to quit.  

They manage to start their own all girls team, the 8-Bits with Wheelchair bound influencer Jenna (Lolita Milena), an eccentric Lilly (Madison baines), and flatulent Diane (D. J. Mausner) with ‘History of Video Games’ professor Parker (Ruby Rose) serving as their coach. They obviously have to compete with the boys to become tournament winners and ensure the continuation of their scholarships. It’s not an easy ask.

It’s an entirely predictable story that tends to  depict unidimensional, over-the-top diversity stereotypes, as part of its anti-sexism strategy. The performances are gung-ho, exaggerated  and the humour based on genital and bawdy jokes doesn’t go down well enough to be entertaining. The old fashioned comedy tropes lack thematic or emotional resonance. It’s a lowbrow representation and poorly developed on the gaming front too. The gaming sessions are entirely boring and the competitions don’t raise the bar either.

1Up sounded like a good idea on paper but as revealed on film, it’s a wash-out. Ruby Rose as Parker with her tragic past  is the only character that resonates here. Her story might have made a better movie but that was not to be. Lazy writing, lack of originality in the various scenarios and stereotypical characters plague this effort.

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