Parents' Guide to Divinity

In the end, this movie's message is tediously simple, but points must be given for the grungy, black-and-white cinematography, striking composition, and even a stop-motion fight scene. Divinity is like so many other sci-fi tales in that its theme is pretty obvious, pretty surfacey. Most people choose to be selfish rather than selfless, it complains. It even includes a villain's speech in which he chastises his father for being too cowardly to do what was necessary to complete the formula. Indeed, most of the dialogue is pretty stiff and routine, especially the stuff that poor Thorne has to spout, keeping a straight face while pacing and wrapped in white robes. (Why was such a wild performer cast in such a starchy role?)

And yet the movie still manages to feel more bizarre and unsettling than it does familiar. Its entire design is something otherworldly, consistently going down dark tunnels toward strange choices and unsettling or unexpected behavior. Indeed, Divinity has the feel of one of those obscure cult items that were made on minuscule budgets and talked about in whispers, like Liquid Sky or Forbidden Zone. Whether it will actually achieve any kind of following is up for grabs, but it may be worth a look for the morbidly curious.