Sundance Review: DIVINITY is a Trippy and Crazy Fever Dream of a Movie with Scott Bakula, Stephen Dorff, and Bella Thorne
Dininity was one of the last movies that I watched at Sundance, and I don’t know if it’s because I was going through movie fatigue from watching so many films or because I was insanely tired. But, this movie made me feel like I was trapped in a fever dream and I didn’t know what in the hell was going on. But, I also kinda dug it.
What I do know, is that the sci-fi movie was weird as hell and it took me on an insanely trippy journey with some outlandish and bizarre characters. The movie has a very retro vibe to it and the visuals were actually really cool and interesting. One thing I can say for certain, this is an original and wildly unique film.
Now, there is a synopsis for the movie, but it doesn’t begin to capture the madness of the story. "Set in an otherworldly human existence, scientist Sterling Pierce dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum named ‘Divinity.’ Jaxxon Pierce, his son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream. Society on this barren planet has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug, whose true origins are shrouded in mystery. Two mysterious brothers arrive with a plan to abduct the mogul, and with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita, they will be set on a path hurtling toward true immortality.”
While the movie is a live-action film, one of my favorite parts was near the end where there’s a climactic fight sequence and it’s all done in stop-motion animation, Ray Harryhousen-style, at least it looked like stop-motion to me! Regardless, I liked the style of that action scene, it was kinda cool! It was fierce yet charming, and I was on board for the ride with what they were doing!
The film has an interesting cast that includes Stephen Dorff, Moises Arias, Jason Genao, Emily Willis, Bella Thorne, Karrueche Tran, and Scott Bakula in his strangest movie role ever!
The movie was written and directed by Eddie Alcazar and the description says that it "dazzles with this uncompromising vision that pushes a retro sci-fi styling forward to a stunning and grotesque future. Alcazar leads a skilled team of creative collaborators to construct this world, and together they conjure a boldly lit black and white wonder with untold mysteries hidden in the shadows.”
This is a sci-fi art movie and it’s one that won’t be easily marketable to audiences and it won’t be a commercial success. But, it will find its audience over time and one day it will probably have a solid cult following.
