Anthony Mackie is leading the box office with his motion picture debut as the тιтular character in Captain America: Brave New World, but we should not let it overshadow his recent post-apocalyptic movie. Directed by George Nolfi of Ocean’s Twelve, Elevation is set in the mountains of the U.S., where a pack of monsters inhabits Earth after decimating most of the world’s population. Early reviews for Elevation commended its performances and identified Elevation‘s cast as the film’s most compelling aspect. Mackie and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool‘s Morena Baccarin join forces to enact a plan to take out the Reapers.

Mackie’s thriller offers an intricate and well-thought-out story, where he plays a father driven by desperation to save his son, by any means necessary. Elevation made its debut on Max one week ago, on February 21, and quickly rose to the top spot in the streaming services list. The post-apocalyptic film will continue to expand its audience, with the ending of Elevation having “sort of two reveals at the end that raise more questions,” according to director Nolfi (via Collider.) Combined with Marvel’s latest project, Captain America: Brave New World and Elevation launch Mackie into an admirably strong start for 2025.

Anthony Mackie’s Elevation Is Now Trending On Max – What The Movie Is About

Elevation Relies On Familiar Tropes Within This Subgenre

Within hours of Elevation‘s first weekend on Max, it rapidly rose to the top spot in the streaming services’ top 10 list in the United States. This officially places the movie above the celebrated We Live in Time, and the Oscar-nominated animated favorite, Flow. Elevation‘s premise centers around creatures rising from the ground and mercilessly killing a significant proportion of the population. Elevation is somewhat similar to A Quiet Place in many respects, as are a handful of other films in the subgenre. As many do, even these monstrous beings are not without weakness, and they possess one critical flaw.

It is soon discovered that the Reapers will not travel above 8,000 feet in alтιтude, which means that humankind must remain above alтιтude in Elevation and create settlements to survive. The survivors are mostly living in the Rocky regions while the heroes of the story head into dangerous land. Will (Mackie) is required to travel across the country to save his son’s life. This creates an interesting dynamic that occurs while Nina (Baccarin) is attempting to enhance bullets to take down the Reapers. Elevation provides an emotionally charged story as the pair combine efforts towards a common goal.

Why Elevation’s Audience Score Is So Much Higher Than The Critics Score On Rotten Tomatoes

Elevation Has A 24% Higher Audience Score Than Critical Score

As it stands, Elevation has a 57% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes — a rather average score considering its newfound momentum on streaming. However, the audience rating is a more impressive 81%. It is likely that audiences are enjoying Elevation more than critics because of Mackie’s role in Captain America: Brave New World. Although the latest Marvel film premiered with tepid reviews, the film effectively convinced audiences that Mackie was the ideal choice to take on the mantle of Captain America. Elevation‘s success owes much to the popularity of Captain America and the audience’s enthusiasm to see more of Mackie’s compelling work.

Arguably, critics are much more critical of genre tropes, while audiences seek emotional resonance and entertainment value. This emotional impact is more likely to result in audiences connecting with the film’s themes and characters much more, which results in a more positive reception regardless of its technical flaws. Not only this, but the final scenes of Elevation leave many questions unanswered, which was an intentional direction by the director (via Collider.) Nolfi is hopeful that he will be granted a sequel to the post-apocalyptic thriller, and these open doors only heighten the audience’s desire for more.

Elevation’s Popularity On Streaming Gives Anthony Mackie An Even Bigger Start To 2025

Anthony Mackie Is Poised For A Phenomenal Year Of Performances

Elevation is benefiting from word-of-mouth success on streaming, which is actively strengthening Mackie’s pre-established career. The actor’s high-profile projects will likely have a much greater influence on Mackie’s success in 2025. Although the actor had his longest streak of fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes between 2016-2019, Elevation comes after Mackie’s gradual downturn, where he saw three Rotten scores in the succeeding years. The success of Elevation on Max and Captain America‘s recent box office performance suggest a renewed upward trend for Mackie.

Although Marvel’s latest film is not receiving the most positive reception, Captain America: Brave New World‘s box office numbers are still incredibly impressive. The 4th Captain America installment has officially surpᴀssed the total earnings of The Marvels and has been leading the box office against its compeтιтors since its debut. Its worldwide earnings are currently at $192 million, not the most profitable film from the franchise, but Captain America: Brave New World is doing decently in terms of commercial success.

Source: Collider