Divinity Review | Soderbergh Presents a Monochrome Mindmelt

At the end of Lois Lowry’s timeless novel The Giver, the main character seems to escape his isolated community, leading him to hear music and see colors for the first time. One can’t help but think back to this YA classic when seeing the new monochrome sci-fi feature Divinity, which ends on a relatively similar note — but don’t worry, no spoilers here. It’s certainly open-ended, along with most of the rest of Divinity, which stars Stephen Dorff as the heir to a genius inventor (Scott Bakula) who was close to creating something that would breathe youth and immortality into life, before he passes on.

His son Jaxxon (Dorff) is left with the science and — as any bratty offspring might do — uses it for his own gain and wealth. Bakula (Behind the Candelabra, The Informant!) has starred in several films by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, who serves as executive producer of Divinity. That’s reason enough to check out filmmaker Eddie Alcazar’s experimental new project, which is now in theaters.

Vintage Experimental Cinema

The film opens on Bakula himself, his character Sterling Pierce looking right at us as he chronicles “day 3,003” of his work. He is in some sort of lab, working on mysterious creation he only hints at. Then we’re transported to what seems like decades into the future, though the look of the film remains the same: dark, monochromatic, shadowy. Is it Earth, or some far-off planet inhabited for unknown reasons? Are these humans or alien humanoids? No matter the lack of clarity — we’re locked in. The overall desaturated look might remind you of past indie classics like Eraserhead and more.

After some flashy opening credits, we’re years into the future and finally learn what “Divinity” is referring to: It’s the serum Sterling was working on, which his grown-up son Jaxxon is now advertising on TV. Want to live forever? Taking some Divinity might just do the trick. “True immortality of both body and mind,” as the commercial goes. Dorff plays Jaxxon as a sort of jumpy, scatterbrained mad scientist who works all day and night. But then, disaster strikes: His home is invaded while he’s in bed with his gorgeous significant other (Emily Willis), and he’s taken down with a sort of retro stun gun and taken captive by two mysterious brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao).

Related: 17 Experimental Movies From the ’60s

In separate, bleak-white scenes reminiscent of certain universes from the Daniels’ Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, Bella Thorne (good to see you) plays Ziva, a sort of cult-like leader of women who preaches about the dangers of the ever-popular Divinity drug in their dystopian world, a world which we later learn is plagued by a 97% infertility rate. “Divinity is the crisis,” she says. Are the brothers an extension of this ideology? Is that why they kidnapped Jaxxon?

The stoic nature of the brothers might remind Breaking Bad fans of the bald twins who were also featured in Better Call Saul. After taking down Jaxxon, they hook him up to lethal amounts of Divinity via an I.V. sort of setup, which sends Jaxxon into utter panic when he awakes. “We’re trying to save you,” they say. How so? To reveal the truly dangerous nature of a drug that apparently makes you harder, faster, younger, stronger?

Then, enter Nikita (Karrueche Tran), who arrives at the brothers’ residence for a night of intimacy but whose motives may or may not be ulterior as she soon discovers the captive Jaxxon, who’s been hidden away. Writer-director Alcazar doesn’t lay everything out for you explicitly, making for a thought-provoking little film, so I apologize if my takeaways on certain plot points aren’t the same as what you perceive. But it seems like Nikita is hired to show the brothers a good time for the night, but once she sees the increasingly ailing Jaxxon, with endless amounts of Divinity pumping into his blood, she tries to set him free. But it’s a grotesque image as Jaxxon starts to bulge in unpleasant ways and lose his mind. You’ll see…

Clever Casting Makes for a Well-Rounded End Result

Utopia

All the while, we see flashes of a terrifically muscular man from Jaxxon’s Divinity commercial, a seemingly successful end result of the serum. His name is Rip (played to perfection by famed bodybuilder Michael O’Hearn), and his special connection to Jaxxon is revealed later in the story. Meanwhile, Jaxxon starts hallucinating (probably thanks to his bulging forehead, as pictured above) and sees visions of his late father condemning him for his use of Sterling’s invention. “You used it in the worst possible way,” says Sterling to his son.

Related: Foe Review: Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal Trapped in a Disappointing Retro-Future Drama

Eventually, Jaxxon is able to break free and seek revenge on the hotheaded brothers who reduced him to a hulking mass. It becomes a literal puppet show that might leave some viewers scratching their heads, but it’s a unique vision and effort — something Alcazar calls “Metascope” — that helps feed into the somewhat absurdist nature of Divinity as a feature film. Don’t knock it til you try it, as they say.

And then there’s that aforementioned trippy ending involving a groundbreaking “child” birth, which will certainly leave moviegoers arguing with each other about what it all meant. For that reason and plenty of others, Divinity might just be discussed in film studies classes down the line. In a world of color, the vintage black-and-white look has resurfaced in cinema is recent years. And in this new film by Alcazar — who is also responsible for the ambitious short film The Vandal — it helps achieve the intended retro-futurist look that has also seen a resurgence on the big screen of late.

Another perk here is the clever casting, especially Dorff as the lead character, a conflicted inheritor of the magical serum. Despite his aging status in Hollywood, he’s still got that youthful face that helps compliment his childlike persona as Jaxxon, reporting and crying to his dad Sterling even in death. Add to that the film’s occasional 1:1 aspect ratio to shake things up, and you’ve got yourself a new experimental feature to sink your teeth into. Thanks to Mr. Soderbergh’s trust, Divinity becomes something divine. It’s not for everyone, but cinephiles need apply.

From Utopia, Divinity opens in theaters Friday, Oct. 13.

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