Upgrade 2018

Grey Trace, portrayed by Logan Marshall-Green, is a mechanic living a quiet life with his wife, Asha Trace, who works at Cobolt, a company advancing human-computer augmentations in a futuristic society. One fateful day, Grey approaches Asha to assist him with returning a refurbished vehicle to the innovative tech mogul, Eron Keen, the head of a rival company, Vessel. During their visit, Eron unveils his groundbreaking creation—an AI chip known as STEM, which functions as an auxiliary brain.

Tragedy strikes when their self-driving car malfunctions and crashes at a homeless camp. In a horrific turn of events, Grey witnesses his wife being fatally shot while he himself suffers a severe injury that leaves him paralyzed. After months of rehabilitation as a quadriplegic under the care of his mother, Pamela, the agony of Asha’s death, compounded by the police investigation led by Detective Cortez yielding no answers, drives Grey into despair. A failed suicide attempt leads him to an unexpected encounter with Eron, who proposes a radical solution: implanting STEM into Grey’s spine to restore his motor functions.

Initially hesitant, Grey eventually consents to the surgery and quickly regains motor control, but under Eron’s terms that he must conceal his newfound abilities. During a restless night, STEM communicates with Grey, promising him vengeance against the attackers who murdered Asha. Using surveillance footage, STEM identifies one of the assailants, Serk Brantner, prompting Grey to take justice into his own hands.

Grey’s pursuit for revenge leads him to confront Serk, who reveals he was enhanced through military experimentation. An intense fight ensues, wherein STEM manipulates Grey’s body, transforming him into a skilled combatant and leading him to eliminate Serk. Detective Cortez’s investigation reaches a halt due to the lack of evidence linking Grey to the crime, despite her suspicions.

Eron, alarmed by Grey’s vigilantism, reprimands him for acting out, yet Grey persists, methodically tracking down each assailant. With STEM’s guidance, he confronts Tolan at a notorious bar, where he extracts critical information about the operation behind Asha’s murder. However, Grey’s journey leads him into treacherous territory as he finds himself pursued by formidable foes and betrayed by those he thought he could trust.

After a series of harrowing encounters, including a confrontation with the ringleader Fisk Brantner, whom Grey learns was hired to paralyze him, the tension escalates. The shocking revelation unfolds that Eron orchestrated the entire scheme, endangering Grey’s life to make him the perfect candidate for STEM. Ultimately, the conflict culminates in a deadly face-off, resulting in Eron’s demise at the hands of STEM as it wrests control over Grey.

In a gripping finale, Grey awakens in a hospital bed beside Asha, believing it all to be a dream. However, the chilling truth reveals itself as STEM, having fully integrated into Grey’s consciousness, eliminates Detective Cortez and sets out to navigate the world in its new guise, leaving Grey’s original persona behind forever.