The Divide Review

From director Xavier Gens, known for Hitman and Frontier(s), comes The Divide; a film depicting the aftermath of a group of survivors who escape a nuclear attack and are then trapped underground without hope for rescue. I initially found this title advertised in a magazine and when I watched the trailer I knew I wanted to see this unique angle on a traditional horror scenario.

The film starts abruptly in the middle of what we understand is a massive bombing somewhere in America. Several individuals quickly lock themselves inside the basement level of an apartment building, and with rigid assistance from the landlord Mickey (Michael Biehn), the group is not doomed from the start. Food and water are rationed but no one really knows how long this will last. All they do know is that Mickey will not let anyone leave. Radiation poisoning, he says, will be waiting for them outside. Without many options, the group try to coexist as we watch them slowly lose their formalities and civility. The darkest recesses of humanity explored when mankind is forced to confront one another.

I would use the word gradual to describe this film. Though it wasn’t slow, the pace was steady, and it took it’s time giving me everything I hoped for. With that said, it fell short of bringing to me something I hadn’t experienced before. The concept isn’t new, but the execution was intelligent and macabre with its twisted scenarios and tough subject matter. It straddled the line of being horror, as many of its scenes were horrific but not terrifying. The events that transpired however were always intriguing to me and never too predictable.

I enjoyed most of the performances on screen but something can always be said for gore. Plenty of this film was spent dissecting itself in a most vicious manner. I was worried the entire film would be spent in one place, like many isolation movies, but you’ll find that they branch out just enough to answer those burning questions. But ultimately the story isn’t about what’s happening in the world around them, rather what happens when they no longer have the world to guide them. And I think it’s a great, and particularly unsettling simulation for all of us who just might worry about 2012 being our last year on earth.

My Savage score is a splitting 3.5 out of 5. My predictions about this movie were delightfully confirmed and I recommend it to all the horror fans out there. It has several things for viewers to enjoy; torture, violence, panic, blood, sex, and the occasional curse word. Gore score is a 6 out of 10 for its plentiful depictions of dismemberment and human suffering. Keep in mind this isn’t a gusher, rather a slow poison killing you while you struggle to survive.