As allegories go, Juan Diego Solanas’ “Upside Down” is about as deep as that famous Frank Gorshin “Star Trek” episode – we’re talking classic “Star Trek,” mind you.
In the episode, titled “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” the Enterprise picks up two aliens whose faces are split down the middle: one side black, one side white. But one’s face is black on the left side and one’s is black on the right – and each guy thinks the other is inferior and should be eradicated. (Hey, it was the 1960s – when something like this on network television actually was pretty deep.)
Except, in “Upside Down,” there are two parallel planets – and to the people on each planet, the other planet looks – yes, you guessed it, upside down. And each planet has inverse gravity to the other – so if you should happen to stray to the other planet, you would float up. Oh, and there’s something about items from one world catching fire if they’re on the other planet for more than an hour, to keep intruders from one planet from visiting the other.
Because, yes, one planet thinks it is superior to and has enslaved the other.
This review continues on my website.