The Divide 2012

NO BIG SPOILERS

I very much liked this movie, though I didn't expect it at all, having been forced by my friend to watch it with her in a movie night. (Though I'll admit it sounded intriguing enough to make me want to watch it..)

Several people have been forced into a very small place after what seems has been a nuclear attack. The place belongs to Micky, the janitor of the house they all live in, and he isn't super-happy about 8 other people intruding. All of them have their own stories, were neighbours and might or might not somewhat know eachother.

In a way The Divide didn't satisfy me at all: It was too open-ended, too pretentious at times, too much in your face, trying to show sides of humanity that I didn't want to see, adressing things I didn't want to think about.

It is never fully explained what is happening with the world outside, and truth be told, it's entirely possible that the writers don't even know themselves. One or two parts of the movie including the people Outside did definitely leave me with questions unanswered.

The characters all went through a couple of horrible things, going from Josh and Bobby who seem to be the most affected of the nuclear radiation, as well as Adrien who loses his brother more and more to his psychotic behavior; to Marilyn to whose issues I won't even go. There is Sam and Eva's more or less broken relationship, and the fact that his education doesn't mean shit anymore, and who has to deal with his lack of balls, and Delvin and Micky seem to have their conflicts as well.

The story progresses, and although we haven't really seen where the characters come from (though we do know some parts of their history) we see their personalities change in very horrendous ways. It's a somewhat weird thing to witness, because in some ways I can imagine people becoming like that. (And truth be told, way worse than this, too.)

So, do I recommend The Divide? Yes. It is a movie that might mess with your head a little, because you'll root for all or none or some of the characters, and you might think about what you do, you might come to the conclusion that you're a Sam, or a Bobby. You might love a character who ends up the asshole, or dead, or both. And then there's the ending, which is neither here nor there. Do those things sound as if I am listing reasons why you SHOULDN'T read The Divide? I fear so, but they aren't. Promise. ;)