Anthony Mackie’s Disappointing Sci-Fi Movie Is a Streaming Sleeper Hit

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Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts.

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Elevation may not have made much noise when it first arrived, but it’s officially having a second life — and this time, audiences are paying attention. The Anthony Mackie–led sci-fi thriller has climbed to #4 on HBO’s streaming charts, quietly transforming what was once written off as a genre misfire into a bona fide sleeper hit. It’s the latest example of a familiar trend: movies that struggle to break through theatrically finding their audience once the pressure’s off and the remote is within reach.

Directed by George Nolfi, Elevation dropped into an already crowded post-A Quiet Place landscape, where humanity-on-the-run monster movies have become their own subgenre. Critics largely shrugged, pointing to thin characterization, familiar tropes, and creatures that didn’t exactly haunt anyone’s nightmares. But streaming audiences? They’re a lot more forgiving — especially when there’s a charismatic lead at the center.

Even critics who weren’t sold on Elevation tended to agree on one thing: Mackie is the glue. As a father forced to descend below a safe elevation line to save his sick son, he brings urgency and conviction to material that might otherwise drift. It’s the kind of performance that plays better at home, where expectations are lower and the goal is simple — be entertained for 90 minutes.

Is 'Elevation' Worth Watching?

Collider’s review of the movie stated that Elevation is a largely forgettable post-apocalyptic monster thriller that squanders an intriguing premise despite solid star power. While Mackie proves once again that he’s a compelling leading man capable of elevating thin material, the film itself never rises above familiar genre tropes borrowed from A Quiet Place and Tremors. The central gimmick — monsters unable to cross above 8,000 feet — is undercut by weak logic, heavy exposition, and predictable plotting. The supporting characters lack depth, Mackie and costar Morena Baccarin have little chemistry, and the CGI monsters are visually dull:

"One thing Elevation arguably does a good job with is not telling us what the monsters are early on. Are they from Earth? Are they aliens? The last few minutes finally drops the truth in what is supposed to be a twist shocker, but there's no jolt to it. Instead, it's just another info dump like everything else. If you love end-of-the-world monster movies, you could do worse than Elevation, but if you want to see Anthony Mackie used to his full potential, you're going to have to wait until he picks up a certain famous shield."

Elevation is streaming now on HBO Max.