The Divide (2011)

The Divide (2011) – Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.

I originally posted this review back in August, and only a couple of people read it. I feel it deserves a little more attention now a few more people stop by my site, so I present to you my original review with bigger images and all (I hope I got them all!) the rookie spelling mistakes fixed! Enjoy version 2.0!

The Divide is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction thriller directed by Xavier Gens (Frontiers). It stars Michael Biehn, Lauren German, Milo Ventimiglia and Rosanna Arquette along with a few more slightly less recognisable faces as residents of an apartment building in New York. After nuclear explosions destroy the city they have to seek refuge in the basement. We then follow these characters on a journey of survival and extreme horror as the situation continues to get worse. As I expected, coming from the director of Frontier(s) this is a very violent and graphic film but the great cast and storytelling make it worth the watch.

The film begins with an explosion and the panic as people in the apartment building we follow try to find a safe place, and a lucky few manage just in time to force their way into the buildings basement or bomb shelter. They discover how lucky they are as the superintendent, played by Biehn, has equipped the shelter with power and food and it is spacious enough for them all to occupy. So they seal the door and wait to be rescued. Little do they know how long they will be down here for and what terror awaits.

A little while later the door is forced open and armed soldiers in biohazard suits storm in, and after a struggle they kidnap one of the groups little girl. Despite killing a couple of the soldiers and trying to explore outside the shelter, the group realise there is no help coming and they are locked in their haven. Gradually tensions mount and the people start to form alliances and the trust disappears. It all goes a little bit lord of the flies and the violent nature of the film begins. Milo Ventimiglia (in a role very different to his Heroes days) takes charge of the situation and becomes the self-imposed leader, and with supplies dwindling women become no more than sexual objects and the blood starts to flow. I don’t want to give any more away, but as the pictures below show the cast really went for the realistic approach and definitely looked the part which made the film that much more scary and realistic.

That leads me on to the acting, and it truly was excellent by everyone involved. A very different direction than I’ve seen these actors in before, and they really went for it. I hated the ones we were meant hate and really wanted Lauren German (Hostel 2, Happy Town – think my wife and I were the only ones that watched this show!) to survive as she was the only character really who stayed true to who she was when she entered. Michael Biehn played his role great, I didn’t know whether to hate him or cheer him on his character was a bit of an enigma. As for Rosanna Arquette, fair play to her as she acted out her role incredibly, just devastating to watch her journey from entering the basement, having her child snatched away and then becoming a sex slave, really unpleasant to see someone fall that far.

The Divide was beautifully shot, a haunting scene at the end looked incredible and the deterioration of the characters was unlike any other method-style acting I have seen for a while. Considering the film received hardly any fanfare and was put straight to DVD and home video, the actors put one hell of an effort in to look the part. It was shot in chronological order and it was incredible to see the way each character declined looks-wise with hair loss, skin issues and naturally weight loss.

As the tagline says The lucky ones died in the blast and by the end I could not agree more with that. The Divide is a great film, one which I’m not in a huge rush to see again due to its difficulty to watch and disturbing content, but I really recommend it as something different and just a great movie. Any film which makes me wonder how I would react in those situations and invokes thought is worthy of a watch in my book. Whilst I would not believe I could act the way some of the people in The Divide do, in extreme conditions people can be pushed to do the unimaginable.

 

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on April 27, 2013

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