There’s so much to unpack in “Divinity,” the new gonzo, sci-fi-ish hallucinatory mindf*ck from filmmaker Eddie Alcazar, a director, writer, producer, and game developer who makes his feature-length debut with this bold, experimental new work. For one, Steven Soderbergh is an executive producer, and when the filmmaker co-signs as an exec on a young, new filmmaker, chances are the work is worth seeing. And as per usual, that’s absolutely the case with “Divinity,” a fresh and innovative new work unlike anything you’ve seen in recent years.
READ MORE: ‘Divinity’ Trailer: Steven Soderbergh Exec-Produces Director Eddie Alcazar’s Ambitious New “Meta-Scope” Cinematic Experience
Grappling with the plot of “Divinity” is complex if only because you’re watching such strange, imaginative, surreal visuals, one’s mind can easily get tripped up in its phantastical world and otherworldly visuals. But in simplest form, set in a strange, indefinable dystopian futurist milieu, “Divinity” centers on two mysterious brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao) who abduct an egoistic mogul, Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), during his quest for immortality.
Narcissistic and vain (naturally), Pierce is the son of a true-blue scientist, Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula, mostly only appearing briefly in the beginning), the real deal, who dedicated his life to perfecting the groundbreaking serum for the anti-aging miracle he calls “divinity.” But of course, the apple has fallen far from the tree, and Sterling’s once-benevolent idea, thought to be an altruistic discovery for humanity, is now exploited for profit and gain by Jaxxon, who now controls and manufactures his father’s once-magnanimous dream.
Society, on the edges of what seems to be some brutal, apocalyptic collapse, is essentially crippled, addicted, and beholden to this miracle drug. With Jaxxon living walled-off in a secret complex, with the help of a seductive woman, Nikita (Karrueche Tran), the two brothers try to infiltrate Jaxxon’s lair to control the divinity product.
What happens from there is bizarre, wild, grotesque, and eye-poppingly astonishing. In fact, the aforementioned above details may not be 100% up to par because when you’re contending with “Divinity,” you’re grappling with sensory overload as rich, textural, dazzling images are racing at you or exploding all around you—the story almost seems beside the point.
Shot in a grainy black and white and with a retro-futuristic aesthetic that’s both grimy, grim and sleek, Alcazar coined the term “Meta-Scope” to describe the visionary technique employed in the film that blends live-action and stop-motion, and it’s so unusual and contrastive to anything you’ve seen, it’s arresting and even unnerving to the eyeballs.
With “Divinity,” Alcazar appears like a cinematic explorer, or even sh*t-grinning terrorist, seemingly gleefully shattering genre apart. The multi-technique approach to visual storytelling often feels like uncharted territory and is a serious wonder to behold.
If there’s a downside to “Divinity,” it’s such a WTF am I watching? experience, one loses the sense of plot and story and instead is awash in dream-like paroxysmal visuals. It’s perhaps the closest thing to feeling and undergoing a dream and ephemeral dream logic —is this real? Is this not? Wait, what happened to that thing that disappeared a second ago? Oh wait, we’re here now—that one has likely witnessed in quite some time.
Still, if the “Divinity” plot glides away like some beautiful, transient epiphany, the radiant experience is so exhilarating and ecstatic that not being entirely sure of what’s going on comes at a small cost. A cult-classic head trip of the highest order, “Divinity,” really just has to be seen to be genuinely experienced; words and reviews like this can’t do this phantasmatical nightmare justice.
Excruciatingly original, the cinematography by Danny Hiele (a music video Director known for working with Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean) is literally some transportive, next-level shit. The film comes with a strobing seizure warning, but it’s not something bludgeoning like Gaspar Noé or Harmony Korine might relentlessly blast you with. Instead, so dreamy and peculiar, one’s eye could roll back into their head at any tame moment, just seemingly overwhelmed by the blissful euphoria of this maximalist imaginativeness. Picture, if you can, Guy Maddin, an LSD overdose, and the creepy, illusory, uncanny marvel of “Jason and The Argonauts”-esque stop motion techniques utilized to glue your eyes open while drops of who knows what are plopped into your sockets to make this drug-induced journey peak that much more. A trippy score by DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill, House Of Pain) and Dean Hurley (“Twin Peaks”) only elevates the film’s heavenly rapture.
At this point, I think I’m mostly just retching out words, which may be apropos of how “Divinity” can render you speechless or just dumbstruck with word vomit. Co-starring Mike O’Hearn, Emily Willis, Caylee Cowan, and Bella Thorne, “You Have to See It to Believe It” is a well-worn movie cliché, but trust that it applies to this utterly bananas corporeal bath of cinema in all its glorious sound and vision. As the film ratchets up to its batshit, gnarly, and beautifully mutilated conclusion, man, prepare yourself for how transgressive and hypnagogic it gets.
Alcazar studied VFX and Animation Film Theory, and those two fields—the tactile and the theoretical—feel like apt examples of how “Divinity” straddles the experimental, philosophical, metaphysical, and looney toons concepts mashed together in this ridiculously inventive and enthralling picture. Alcazar was also named one of the 25 New Faces of Film by Filmmaker Magazine and one of the best new directors in America by Shoot Magazine. While his work so far—including some equally ingenious and innovative shorts—is far from mainstream and perhaps too esoteric for mass appeal, it seems like only a matter of time before all cineastes will know him like they do iconoclasts like Guy Maddin, Godfrey Reggio (“Koyaanisqatsi” trilogy), Chris Marker, or other modern-day avant garde/experimental immortals. Please immediately give me another hit and spin me again on this dizzying ride. [A-]
“Divinity” is in theaters in NYC on 10/13, LA on 10/20, and Nationwide on 11/3 via Utopia.