Taglines: To survive the end of the world you must first survive each other.
As nuclear explosions ravage New York City, the apartment block residents rush downstairs to escape the building, only to be forced into the basement by further explosions. Only eight of the residents, Eva (Lauren German) and her boyfriend Sam (Iván González), Josh (Milo Ventimiglia) and his brother Adrien (Ashton Holmes), Josh’s friend Bobby (Michael Eklund), Marilyn (Rosanna Arquette) and her daughter Wendi (Abbey Thickson), and Devlin (Courtney B. vance) manage to force their way into the buildings bomb shelter before the superintendent, Mickey (Michael Biehn), seals the door.
The group acclimate to the cramped surroundings while Mickey asserts his dominance of the shelter, to the chagrin of Josh, Bobby, and Devlin. After time passes, the shelter’s door is broken open and the shelter is invaded by armed soldiers in biohazard suits; the men’s speech is unintelligible, and their allegiance remains ambiguous. The men attack the group and seize Wendi, leaving the shelter with her. Devlin and Mickey manage to kill two of the men, and Mickey takes his machine gun. Josh volunteers to use one of the dead soldier’s suits to leave the shelter and search for Wendi.
Outside of the shelter, Josh finds the area entirely sealed off by material tunnels connected to a laboratory. His outfit allows Josh to explore the lab, where he discovers several children, including Wendi, in containment units, seemingly unconscious, their hair shaved off and their eyes covered with plasters. One of the soldiers checks the ID on Josh’s outfit and, realizing he is an impostor, tears out his breathing apparatus, exposing Josh to the air. Josh flees back to the shelter, killing two of the soldiers on the way.
After Josh returns, the soldiers weld the door shut from the outside, trapping all within. Time passes; Josh begins to suffer the effects of his exposure and admits to Adrien that he only went outside to find rescue for Adrien and himself; Eva, in a fractured relationship with the meek Sam, grows closer to Adrien; Bobby is forced to hack up the bodies of the dead soldiers so their decaying remains can be flushed away; Devlin grows suspicious that Mickey is hoarding resources; and Marilyn, told her child is dead by Josh, enters a sexual relationship with Bobby.
Marilyn attempts to convince Eva to sleep with Josh, warning her that the men will want sex. The group grow increasingly angry with Mickey as resources grow scarce, culminating when Devlin discovers Mickey’s locked safe room and threatens him with a taser to open it. A scuffle ensues and Mickey shoots Devlin dead with the machine gun. The group do not believe Mickey’s argument of self defense and an increasingly ill Josh, and an increasingly deranged Bobby, torture him to gain the code to the safe room; Eva throws the machine gun into the toilet septic tank to stop Josh using it.
Seizing authority, Josh and Bobby are physically and emotionally abusive of Marilyn. Josh makes it clear that he wants Eva, and Sam is unable to stand up for her. Eva and Sam try to protect Marilyn from Josh and Bobby, but are unable to. While Eva is tasked with watching Mickey, Mickey reveals that there is a gun hidden in his safe room.
The Divide is a post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Xavier Gens and written by Karl Mueller and Eron Sheean. It stars Michael Biehn, Lauren German, Milo Ventimiglia and Rosanna Arquette. The Divide was first screened at the SXSW festival in March 2011, then released in theaters in the United States on January 13, 2012, to negative reviews. It was released on DVD in the United States on April 17, 2012.
The Divide (2012)
Directed by: Xavier Gens
Starring: Lauren German, Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Courtney B. Vance, Ashton Holmes, Rosanna Arquette, Iván González, Michael Eklund, Abbey Thickson, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn
Screenplay by: Karl Mueller, Eron Sheean
Production Design by: Tony Noble
Cinematography by: Laurent Barès
Film Editing by: Carlo Rizzo
Costume Design by: Mary Hyde-Kerr
Art Direction by: Gordon Wilding
Music by: Jean-Pierre Taïeb
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing strong violence and sexuality, and for pervasive language.
Distributed by: Anchor Bay Films
Release Date: April 17, 2012
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