The Divide

A single night in one city. People and buildings collapsing. Conflicts arise between classes and generations, personal and political problems become intertwined, comedy and drama blend together. The Divide is a film with a very topical message – when the system collapses, those at the lowest level, who play the biggest role in the fact that it hasn’t already collapsed, pay the highest price – and a lot of nervous energy that is not entirely easy to get in tune with and absorb, because the situation becomes more and more tense from the opening relationship quarrel. Everyone is constantly in motion and in conflict. The narrative does not give us an opportunity to get to know them in quieter circumstances. Furthermore, the characters are a bit like sitcom caricatures, the confrontation of different points of view is formulaic in places and the power of the emotions at the end overwhelms the effort to somehow bring order to the chaos (which, despite the use of real protests, is too obviously artificial). However, it is actually admirable that a grotesque film full of anger and tension, and which is anything but restrained, was made about society on the verge of collapse. 75% (11/05/2021)