There’s nothing particularly novel about the grim view of humanity in French director Xavier Gens’ brutal post-apocalyptic horror show, “The Divide.” But that doesn’t make this overwrought but harrowing film feel like any less of a body blow to the soul.
Think “Lord of the Flies,” “The Road,” or a far less heroic “Walking Dead” – but stuck in a basement. “The Divide” kicks off in kinetic fashion as nuclear bombs rain on New York City and a crowd of panic-stricken high-rise dwellers is rushing down to the basement. Most don’t make it, but those who do include the building superintendent (Michael Biehn), a mom with a young child (Rosanna Arquette), a nervous foreigner (Iván González) and his wife (Lauren German), a seemingly level-headed man (Courtney B. Vance), a take-charge young guy (Milo Ventimiglia), his quiet half-brother (Ashton Holmes) and their friend (Michael Eklund). The struggle begins with a power grab and descends into savagery as radiation sickness and fears of the inevitable take hold. Written by Karl Mueller and Eron Sheean, “The Divide” doesn’t break new ground in end-of-the-world and we-are-the-monsters lore, but as shot by Gens (Frontiers) and cinematographer Laurent Bares, it’s creepily claustrophobic and drearily depressing. What a way to start the new year.
