Midlands Review of Wrong Way Up
midlandsmovies • May 17, 2021
Wrong Way Up
Directed by James Foster
2021
Jamfozz Productions
Filmed in Lincoln, Wrong Way Up is a new short from James Foster who first entered the Midlands film scene with his previous project Back in My Day.
This new 10-minute comedy follows a young man called Matt (Ryan Thomson) who is introduced as he awakes in his dressing gown to receive of a package from a delivery woman.
Opening the parcel, it’s not the contents inside that ultimately intrigue Matt but the box itself. We then cut to an intruder attempting to burgle an apartment at night but standing in his way is a new kind of “superhero” who is prepared to stand up for what is right.
In this instance, it’s simply our man Matt wearing a homemade suit of cardboard. Think the cheapest cosplay Iron Man costume – one that isn’t even painted either.
As expected, the brown boxes provide next-to-no protection and he’s easily beaten. But whilst asleep we see a bolt of lightning hitting the cardboard helmet which gives it some extra-dimensional powers.
Matt now has the ability to create more boxes from thin air – and although when he first begins to fire them, it’s more of an inconvenience than anything – there’s soon more serious repercussions in horrific hand-slicing and body “insertions”.
Wrong Way Up has a fun start and simple premise and given its short time, gets over a lot of information, gags and some entertaining story beats in quick succession.
And it plays excellently on superhero origin tropes – we see the new suit, the early days as the protagonist learns to control their powers and their first crime-fighting exploits. Matt has the ‘Clark Kent’ glasses as well and as always it’s this alter ego that’s most vulnerable.
But as the burglar from earlier arrives back at his flat, he’s faced with a serious threat before the delivery woman (Amy Coull as a Mary-Jane-style ‘Suzie’) returns to his “palace” and he makes her a hot drink still half dressed in his box-y outfit.
And as she browses around his home, the now empty boxes are full of his surprising “mementos” from his crime-protection spree.
Wrong Way Up is an entertaining short with plenty going in its favour from its strong central idea to its well set up visual jokes. Showcasing a kind of “Crap-tain Amazon”, it has echoes of the feature film Dave Makes a Maze where cardboard boxes set up a world of fantasy and make-believe.
And with a flash of magic, a dash of wonder and some marvellous humour, Wrong Way Up director James Foster has delivered a super short about a low-cost hero with plenty of top-class laughs.
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett & Matt Burkey for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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