What Goes Up is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Glatzer and starring Hilary Duff, Steve Coogan, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, and Molly Shannon.

[2] Upon arriving in Concord, New Hampshire in January 1986 to cover the hometown hooplah for the looming Space Shuttle Challenger launch, with local teacher Christa McAuliffe on the mission's crew, reporter Campbell Babbitt decides to call an old college friend, only to discover an apparent suicide.

Babbitt, who has his own ethical baggage, gravitates toward his friend's high-school students in hopes of finding an unsung hero story about a teacher who made a permanent impact on the social misfits of the school.

Instead, he discovers a group of dysfunctional students, outcasts led by narcissistic seductress Lucy, repressed voyeur Jim, and scheming pregnant teen Tess.

[9] Variety described it as "a pointless and pretentious drama that -- given its title and direct linkage to the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster—nearly adds tasteless to its unflattering hat trick.

"[15] Noel Murray from The AV Club wrote, "Glatzer and [co-writer] Lawson show a deep understanding of how common ideals can hold even a community of outsiders together.