Movie Review- Divergent

Based on the bestselling novel by Veronica Roth (which I have not read), comes an awesome science fiction film directed by Neil Burger.

The story goes that in a dystopian future American, specifically a walled up Chicago, there are five factions that make up the city: Abnegation the selfless (who rule the city), Amity the peaceful, Candor the honest, Dauntless the brave, and Erudite the intelligent (who want to take over). Everyone takes a test to see which faction they belong in, but on the day of their choosing, they can pick whichever one they want. Once the decision is made, they have no choice but to do it or become factionless (which is basically being homeless).

A young girl named Beatrice Prior is told she is a Divergent on the day of her test. That means, it is inconclusive. The person doing the test tells her to keep it a secret and manually puts in Abnegation which is Beatrice’s home faction. However, on the day of choosing, she leaves her family and joins Dauntless, who also act as security for the city. She then changes her name to Triss. 

However, as she begins her training, she discovers that Divergents are being killed off and that Erudite is planning a move to take city by force from the Abnegation clan. She has to act quickly save the other Divergents and also her family from a conspiracy that reaches to the highest orders of their society. 

A few people have compared this story to The Hunger Games, and while the setting is similar, I find little comparison. The protagonists are very different in style and persona. Also, if Divergent is the first of a trilogy, then this first film is way better quality wise than the first Hunger Games movie. 

I recommend it because it is action packed, well acted and directed, and the visuals are pretty cool. At times, it could be a little slow, but otherwise, I found it quite enjoyable.

PARENTAL WARNINGS: violence and language

  • Shailene Woodley as Beatrice “Tris” Prior
  • Theo James as Tobias “Four” Eaton
  • Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior
  • Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews
  • Jai Courtney as Eric
  • Zoë Kravitz as Christina
  • Miles Teller as Peter Hayes
  • Maggie Q as Tori Wu
  • Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior
  • Tony Goldwyn as Andrew Prior
  • Ray Stevenson as Marcus Eaton
  • Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Will
  • Christian Madsen as Al
  • Amy Newbold as Molly
  • Mekhi Phifer as Max
  • Ben Lamb as Edward
  • Justine Wachsberger as Lauren

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