THE DIVIDE (Xavier Gens). 123 minutes. Opens Friday (January 20). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNN
Can’t people ever get along during the apocalypse? Not in The Divide, a nasty genre flick that piles a collection of relative strangers into a claustrophobic shelter under a high-rise following an unexplained nuclear attack.
When they get sealed in by mysterious soldiers, tempers flare, blood is shed and some resort to sexual and psychological abuse. At times the film goes over the top, particularly in the gratuitous sex-slave fate of Rosanna Arquette’s character.
Director Xavier Gens reins in the stylistic excess of Frontier(s) and the dreadful Hitman while still working in heightened comic book mode. He may lack subtlety and any desire to reinvent genre tropes, but at least he knows how to deliver the expected thriller beats in a lively way.
Fans of 80s action will get a kick out of seeing the sadly MIA Michael Biehn chew cigars and scenery as the alpha male landlord, even if the rest of the cast ranges from bland to mediocre (with the exception of Canadian Michael Eklund, effective as the film’s requisite nutcase).
Though not particularly fresh, The Divide is an entertainingly nihilistic romp if you have a strong stomach for gore, perversion and B movie cheese.
