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 into a malicious nightmare.
Written, directed, and co-produced by Eddie Alcazar, Divinity was recently released on Shudder. The film stars Bella Thorne (Amityville: Awakening, Infamous), Stephen Dorff (Blade, True Detective), and Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) and was executive-produced by Steven Soderbergh. The film is a passion project of Alvarez’, who notably made the film without a script…and it shows.
Divinity is reminiscent of those 60s and 70s sci-fi films that were abundant after successful titles like War of the Worlds, Destination Moon, and Forbidden Planet carved out a path for the sci-fi blockbuster. Divinity is, unfortunately, more akin to something that you would likely see the crew of MST3K taking the piss out of in the early hours of the morning.
The film has little that I found intriguing, let alone watchable. The clear obsession with the human form and sensuality was admittedly erotic in parts but deeply disturbing in others. The acting was barely deserving of the word and much of the dialogue was difficult to follow, as was the plot. It wasn’t that I did not necessarily understand the plot, it’s that the narrative was difficult to follow.
The words “fever dream” are thrown around far too often these days but I have honestly never had a better use of the term. Divinity is exactly that and more; a black and white fever dream with a bizarre concept and an even more bizarre ensemble of characters. I watched until the end only to satisfy my morbid curiosity. While the film boasts the occasional eye-catching visual or sensual encounter, they do not make up the meat of the movie. Oh, and the final fight scene is stop-motion animation for…reasons.
If you’re looking for some modern retro weird sci-fi fever dream film with gorgeous bodies and a bizarre story, watch Blood Machines (2019) instead. Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. The trailer and artwork are below.
