Movie Review: Divergent

Veronica Roth, in her Divergent trilogy divided people into five factions – Abnegation – the selfless, Candour – the honest, Erudite always thirsty for knowledge, Amity who were the peacekeepers and last but not the least, Dauntless – the crazy parkour practitioners who leaped off trains and buildings like it was an everyday thing. She further created the Divergent species whose qualities were convocation of two or more of these factions. The whole story is about finding what Divergent actually means and why being one is dangerous.

Beatrice/Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley), initially from Abnegation, is finally sixteen and must give the aptitude test which would help her choose which faction she belonged to. Her aptitude test results are inconclusive and she is told that she is Divergent. Wanting freedom for everything, from looking at her reflection in the mirror to talking freely at the dinner table and wanting to be able to experience the thrill she saw on the dauntless children’s faces every day, her badass side makes her choose Dauntless at the Choosing ceremony. Looking at her parents for the last time, she walks away to her new home. At the dauntless quarters, they undergo an initiation process which has rank cut offs. The first stage is more about physical strength and tactics where the initiates learn hand to hand combat, throwing knives and handling a gun. The other two were about identifying and overcoming fears through terrifying life-like simulations.

Amongst striving to survive initiation, our heroine must also figure out what being Divergent signifies and why they are murdered, as well as save the Abnegation from an attack before it’s too late. Four (Theo James), is her instructor, and in spite of his having Lady Gaga’s poker face initially, Tris manages to break through his sluggish charm, and they soon build up some chemistry. Jeanine Matthews, head of the Erudite (played by Kate Winslet), keeps popping in and is the real villain. More like a machine, she sees everything she can’t handle as a problem, and is hell bent on eradicating the roots of the problem, not caring about what she has to do in that process.

The movie felt a bit rushed as important scenes weren’t given enough importance, but otherwise it was gripping. All the actors keep you hooked on, as you wait for what will happen next. You’ll always be rooting for Tris, whether she is shy and simple as she was in the beginning, or striking and bold like towards the end! 

Yup, it’s definitely a onetime watch.

Kanksha :)

I believe everyone in this world has tea spoons of all these qualities. Saying the truth requires courage, bringing peace requires sacrifice and selflessness, and hunting knowledge could be synonymous to figuring out the truth. Throughout the trilogy, Roth throws in challenges, betrayals and (regrettably) deaths, reminding us once again why forgiving people is important. It’s a pretty good trilogy and you should probably read the books before watching the movie!