When I hear “post apocalyptic movie,” I usually think of leather clad lone wolf heroes/tribes/cyborgs/bands of survivors trekking across the desert/dyspoian slum in search of water/civilization/gas/the last fertile woman/whatever. I think of Mel Gibson, Fred The Hammer Williamson and Snake Pliskin. I think “two men enter one man leaves.” I think 1990: Bronx Warriors, Warriors of the Wasteland, and Surf Nazis Must Die. What I don’t usually think of is a well-directed claustrophobic thriller with a good ensemble cast, but that’s exactly what we’ve got in The Divide. It’s a story about what happens when the world ends and things get ugly. It’s the true story of 9 strangers, picked to live in a fallout shelter. It’s what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real…wait a minute. I think that was something else. Let me try this again. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Xavier Genz knows! Eh, close enough.
The synopsis: Prepare yourself for the unrated movie experience that critics are calling one of the most graphic and extreme end-of-the-world shockers of our time: As nuclear warheads rain down on Manhattan, nine strangers - Lauren German (Hostel: Part II), Michael Biehn (Aliens, Tombstone), Milo Ventimiglia (“Heroes”), Courtney B. Vance (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), Ivan Gonzalez, Michael Eklund (Hunt To Kill), Ashton Holmes (“Revenge”) and Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) – barricade themselves in their apartment building’s bunker-like basement controlled by the unhinged superintendent. But within days, supplies dwindle, tempers flare and the trapped survivors find themselves overcome by treachery, madness, sexual torment and savage violence. What follows is intense. It is raw. And it is all brutally, horrifyingly real. This is THE DIVIDE.
“One of the most graphic and extreme end-of-the-world shockers of our time?” I don’t know if I’d go that far. Don’t get me wrong, there is some gore here, and it’s done very well, but it’s not a gory as I’d expect from the guy that directed Frontier(s). What the hell is with the parentheses in that title anyway? I never got that. Anyway, I’m not complaining about them holding off on the majority of the gore until the end. I only bring it up because they did. It really didn’t need all that much gore, this one was all about the story (what a concept!) and the acting.
For the most part, this is just plain old good storytelling. This ragtag group of survivors ends up in this shelter, which keeps them safe from the nuclear hellfire outside. Then, about half an hour in, something happens (which I won’t spoil), and now their refuge becomes a prison. They’re stuck. With no escape, no authorities to answer to, a finite amount of supplies, and death imminent, societal rules no longer apply and it’s mankind’s baser instincts taking over. The easy comparison is Lord of the Flies in a bomb shelter, and it’s pretty accurate, but you also have to add in elements of Lifeboat and Night of the Living Dead too. I’m also glad that they decided not to show us what was going on outside. We don’t go anywhere the characters don’t. We’re trapped too. When you’re using the whole “trapped survivors must survive each other” setup, that’s the right way to do it. ***SPOILER ALERT*** I dug that the person who ends up being the main threat to the group isn’t who we’re initially led to believe it is. That red herring was extremely well played. I love it when movies do that. ***END OF SPOILER ALERT*** I did have some issues with the pacing of both the story and the movie however. The time frame is never officially stated, but it sure doesn’t seem to take long for everything to break down. We got down to the “alpha males and the weak but civilized dissenters” nitty gritty real freakin’ quick. Some indicators that a little more time had passed would have been nice. Then again, they did add the element of radiation poisoning, so that might have accelerated everyone’s mental deterioration. The movie stands at two hours and two minutes, and it drags a little around the middle. I think it probably would have been more effective had it clocked in at around an hour and forty-five minutes. I also didn’t like that the characters acted completely illogically in some instances to the point that it seems they wanted to be raped or killed. I did dig the ending though. I do love downbeat endings, and this one is great. Some will live, some will die, but NO ONE is living happily ever after.
The ensemble cast did an impressive job, despite a wide variety of acting levels on display. Michael Beihn, Reese and Riggs himself, chews cigars and scenery with equal gusto as the building’s super forced to share his shelter with a motley crew (I totally almost spelled that Crue out of habit) of his tenants. Laura German, who you probably know best from Hostel 2, is suitably intense as the brooding heroine. Rosanna Arquette is hammy but entertaining as the mother figure who snaps and becomes the plaything of the young toughs, played capably by Ventimiglia and Ecklund. To tell you the truth, I think Ivan Gonzalez and Ashton Holmes were the only weak links in the cast, Holmes much worse than Gonzalez.
One thing that really struck me while watching this movie was the makeup. As the flick progresses the characters look more and more gaunt, haggard and sick. I was amazed at what they had accomplished in making this transition look realistic. When I listened to the commentary, I discovered that this wasn’t just makeup. The film was shot in sequence, and for the duration of the shoot the actors endured a near starvation diet, growing thinner and more skeletal as the film progressed. Now that’s dedication to a role. I don’t want to take anything away from the great makeup artists on this, but that took it to a whole new level of believability and really added to the film. The chunks of hair falling out as time goes on are a nice touch too.
Some people that don’t get mentioned a lot in these kinds of films but definitely should are the stunt performers. It’s often said that if you don’t notice them, then that means they did their job well. I do want to point this one out though. There is one scene, and this may be a slight spoiler, where there is a character on fire. This is one of the most impressive body burn performances I’ve ever seen. The Director confirms on the commentary that it was an actual stunt done by a stuntman named Dan Skene, not CGI. The guy is bare chested. Yes, he does a topless burn, and it looks fantastic. He is absolutely covered in flames. This isn’t one of those “shoot it from certain angles so it looks like his whole body is on fire” burns. He’s a ball of fire and it lasts for a good long while in an extended shot. Bravo sir.
One last small note here before I wrap this up. I bitch so much about CGI that I make it a point to recognize it when it’s done well. ***SPOILER ALERT*** At the end when we do finally see the nuclear wasteland that was New York, it’s obviously a digitally created environment aided by miniatures, but it is flawless. It looks amazing. It’s a truly haunting scene to leave the viewers with. ***END OF SPOILER ALERT*** I’ve seen those types of shots in films with twenty times the budget of this one not look half as good.
The Divide is an effective thriller about the darkness inside mankind and how it will use any excuse to manifest itself. It features a lot of good acting, some very skillful direction, and capable, suspenseful storytelling. Yet it got panned by a lot of mainstream critics. Is it perfect? No. There are a couple of weak links in the cast and the story could use a little tightening up, but it’s well shot, it’s got some nice twists and turns, and the flick possesses a wonderful gritty atmosphere. Yet these artsy fartsy high and mighty blowhards complained that it’s too dark, nihilistic, misogynistic, violent, and ugly. Well duh! That’s the point moron! It’s a story about the animalistic nature of man and the end of the world. What did you expect? Stick to Disney boys. Anyway, you guys trust your old buddy Son of Celluloid on this one folks, The Divide is a grim little gem that’s well worth watching. One and a half severed thumbs up. Nathan says check it out.
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