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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

Remember the days when the only thing separating two star-crossed lovers was their dueling families or bounty hunters and a block of carbonite? It seems as if in the past few years, high-concept sci-fi films centered around a love story have upped the stakes so much that it should be utterly impossible for the average guy and gal to make it work.

Testing that credibility is Upside Down, where Adam (Jim Sturgess) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst) literally live on two opposite and inverted worlds.

Even though inhabits of Up Above and Down Below are forbidden from interacting, these two have fallen in love. But with the penalty for trespassing being exile or death, Adam’s taking on a major risk when he straps on weights to keep him on the same plane as Eden. (That shot at the end when he passes through two bodies of water? Breathtaking.)

Personally, I feel like I’ve stepped into a wormhole, because it was exactly a year ago that I was reporting on the first Upside Down trailer to hit the web. Perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s taken so long for this unusual film to secure a release date, but every time there are new photos or trailers, they’re met with excitement from eager audiences.

In the past I’ve compared this movie to recent speculative-fiction features Inception and In Time. What makes it so compelling is that it clearly possesses the dizzying visual effects and powerful score of the first. But what will determine if it “rises down” or “falls up” is how badly it clings to groanworthy puns. And “love is stronger than gravity”? Not that great of a tagline.

Oh, and even though everyone’s already said it — bet Kirsten Dunst is glad she mastered that upside-down kiss in Spider-Man.

Upside Down is set to hit theaters in limited release March 15, 2013.

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Natalie Zutter

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