The Divide: When Survivor Met The Apocalypse

Perhaps it’s the perverse sense of humor of some unseen Greater Power that finds Xavier Gens post apocalyptic horror offering The Divide in theaters this past weekend. This past week, scientists moved “The Doomsday Clock”, a hypothetical device signaling how close we are to eliminating ourselves through catastrophic war, one minute close to midnight. A top Iranian nuclear engineer was assassinated this past week, and Iran was quick to accuse American and/or Israeli complicity in the act. While Secretary of State Hilary Clinton categorically denied US involvement, there’s no doubt we’ve moved one step closer to a conflict where there may be no winner.

 In its opening moments we see the end of the world through the eyes of Eva (Lauren German). While a lonely tear trails down her cheek, her eye casts the reflection of bombs raining from the sky. The camera pivots and offers a panoramic view of a nuclear attack (neither the reasons nor the responsible party are give or germane to the film) on New York signaling the end of days. Eva’s fiancé Sam pulls her away from the window and for a few frantic minutes the couple scrambles along with everyone else looking for an exit. Seeing that escape would be futile long with a small group the couple peel away from the entrance and rush towards the basement moments before the blast incinerates the lobby and everyone trapped within.

Mickey (a grizzled Michael Beihn ); an ex-firefighter turned building super, planned for this day for years and built a fallout shelter stocked with provisions and a generator. What he failed to account for are the eight survivors that force themselves through the door before he can seal it off.  As the low rumblings of bombs and debris falling continue above ground, the makeshift group hunkers down to wait it out.  Mickey proves cantankerous and ill equipped to deal with the others, and tensions soon arrive over the doling out of supplies and long term strategy.

Xavier Gens proved himself a master of shocking, extreme gore with his debut Frontiers. That film piled the brutality on in rapid fire succession and left its final girl trembling like an epileptic by the third act. This time Gens plays the long game, by allowing the steady march of time give the characters pause to let the hopelessness of their situation sink in. The film’s title is an apt one, as it’s not too long before the group breaks into factions that are constantly barking at one another. Gens manages to capture the smallness of their shelter and the feeling of the walls pressing in on the group without cramping the visual style and flair of the film. Visual tricks such as well placed mirrors create the illusion of much larger space before reminding the occupants just how constricted they are.  

Any pretense of civility in the group breaks down in no time due to arguments over food rations, boredom induced petty bickering and long brewing domestic travails thrust under the harsh spotlight of confinement take hold. At times it feels like the Stanford Experiment is taking place as the stronger members of the group begin to exert dominance over the weaker. Eva remains the one person who manages to keep a cool head, assisting those in need of medical or emotional attention and trying her best to diffuse the many skirmishes that crop up. The after effects of violent acts and bullying pushes the perpetrators further down a dark path. By the film’s end, the two primary villains (Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund, both turning in performances that allow them to gleefully chew scenery by the handful) would be comical caricatures if they weren’t capable of such brutality.

Gens excels in putting a character through torture that would force Job to throw in the towel. Rather than one crushing act that breaks Gens deals a series of repetitive blows to wear a character down to a nub. In this case, it’s Rosanna Marquette’s single mother that suffers the worst indignities. A series of events (we’ll remain spoiler free) leave her at the brink of sanity. Her situation leaves her prime for the taking, and it’s precisely at her lowest moment that she’s passed around as a sexual plaything, coerced into debasing herself at any given moment. From there she’s further broken down until she exhibits the mannerisms of an abused house pet.  She’s dehumanized to the point that by the time Gens rolls around to her final fate, the moment feels small, like a child moving on from a discarded broken toy to the next shiny object. 

It’s fitting then that the film begins and ends with surroundings engulfed in flames. Given the events that unfold, the second time around panic-stricken horror gives way to reflection, even acceptance by those fortunate enough to be left behind. It’s almost beautiful, especially given the smoldering ashen ruins glimpsed briefly in the closing moments. With it, Gens presents his vision of our future. It’s one devoid of hope and of any foundation of which to rebuild, and it’s one caused entirely by our own hand. With it, he delivers the first genre gem of the year.