TL;DR – It may not be original, but it needs to be said that Lift failed to launch.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Lift Review –

Historically, I have tended to have a better time with the sort of films that Netflix has been championing as of late because even if they are not high art, they still have amusing moments. Or at least bank their blandness of stars with personalities that can shine through. Well, today, we have a film that flounders when it should soar.

So to set the scene, we open on an art auction in Venice that is happening in tandem with London. Cyrus (Kevin Hart), a world-renowned art thief, is there, as is Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the Interpol agent out to capture him. When an NFT for N8 (Jacob Batalon) sale goes wrong, it is time for a chase through the canals. It is a scene of chaos, but it is all a distraction. But when Abby’s boss, Huxley (Jean Reno), discovers a terrorist plot and needs something heisted from a plane in mid-air, well, it looks like Abby will need Cyrus and his team.   

While I will be pretty negative here, I do want to say that the cast they have put together for this film is outstanding. Indeed, Billy Magnussen looks like he is having a blast, and that so helps in places. Úrsula Corberó is the breath of fresh air that the film desperately needs. Even Burn Gorman is being appropriately menacing when needed. The vaguely European locations are fine, the rough outline of this film kind of works, and the action scenes are okay. I don’t even blame them for thinking that NFTs would still be a thing in 2024.

One of the significant issues with this film is that Hart and Mbatha-Raw have zero chemistry with each other. It is so pronounced that, much like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, when they are working alone or working on a problem, the movie works kind of okay. However, every time they move back to the romance section of the film, you can feel it all grind to a halt. Okay, it is not as bad as Valerian, but it is close. Part of this is that Kevin Hart is playing more off-type than his usual comedic role, and he does not quite land it.

What really lets this film down is that narrative, or at least what was left of the narrative in the final product. I love heist films, but this might be the most paint-by-number heist film that I have ever seen. Nothing in the story or how it played out captured me at all. They tried to capture the essence of what makes a heist film work, but what we got was just a stale understanding. The twists didn’t feel earned, the ending fell flat, and it all felt like I have seen this before but better. Even things like understanding that saying the name of your film once is fun, but the diminishing returns of that pile up quickly.

Then, there are problems with the tone. Lift does not understand what sort of film it wants to be. Is it playing it straight-laced like Widows? Or is it going for a fun time like one of the later Ocean’s? It felt like different cast members and even the crew got told that they were in different films. So that the villains come off as lacklustre, the anti-heroes feel underbaked, and the stakes are non-existent.

In the end, do we recommend Lift? Unfortunately not. If there was ever a film that summed up the apparent Netflix want to have something on in the background but something you are not invested in, this would be it. If you liked Lift, we would recommend to you Ambulance.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Lift?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Lift
Directed by – F. Gary Gray
Written by – Daniel Kunka
Music by – Dominic Lewis & Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography by – Bernhard Jasper
Edited by – William Yeh
Production/Distribution Companies – 6th & Idaho Motion Picture Company, Kinberg Genre Films, Hartbeat & Netflix
Starring – Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Vincent D’Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Kim Yoon-ji, Viveik Kalra, Jean Reno, Jacob Batalon, Burn Gorman, Paul Anderson, David Proud & Jess Liaudin
Rating – Australia: M;