Divinity Review: Eternal Youth and Alien Intrigue

"Divinity," Eddie Alcazar's second feature, paints a future that leans more towards purgatory than paradise. Like his previous work, "Perfect," this cryptic sci-fi body horror allegory delves into the pursuit of eternal youth through a mysterious serum. Stephen Dorff portrays a wealthy recluse, Jaxxon, who markets this serum, attracting not only consumers but also attention from apparent space aliens aiming to maintain the natural order.

The film, presented in black and white, offers a mix of trippy, queasy, and erotic elements, catering to those seeking midnight movie eccentricity. However, the film's quirky elements, though visually arresting, struggle to coalesce into a coherent narrative, leaving it feeling more like a surface-level display of aesthetics than a profound critique.

The storyline involves flashbacks of Jaxxon's father, Sterling Pierce, a scientist working on an anti-aging drug. Jaxxon takes incomplete information to create "Divinity," a serum that promises physical perfection and immortality but lacks in addressing mental ageing. Despite its commercial success, the film suggests that Jaxxon's commercial application deviates from his father's original, more altruistic intentions.

Deviating from His Father's Altruistic Intentions

The narrative unfolds as Jaxxon is confronted by alien "brothers" and undergoes a transformation into a roid-raging monster due to an excessive dose of Divinity. The film introduces various characters, including a sex worker ally, a body-beautiful Divinity devotee, and a leader of Amazonian women in leotards from another dimension.

While the film hints at disapproval of engineered physical perfection, it paradoxically seems to revel in ogling the frequently nude or near-nude characters. The climax, featuring a deliberately cheesy stop-motion battle, surprises viewers with a sudden shift to a camp sensibility.

The second perspective on "Divinity" appreciates its alternative viewpoint, pulling inspiration from 1950s B-movies, film noir, porn, stop motion, and advertising. The black-and-white film presents a world where humanity's escape from natural inevitabilities, portrayed through the pursuit of eternal youth, robs it of its purpose. Steven Soderbergh's involvement adds to the film's excitement, positioning it as one of the most intriguing midnight movies of 2023.

The movie begins with flashbacks of scientist Sterling Pierce, who develops an anti-ageing drug called Divinity. However, when the film jumps forward, Sterling is dead, and his son Jaxxon has turned Divinity into a commercial venture, flooding the market with promises of physical perfection and immortality. The consequence is a world filled with individuals more concerned with vanity than reproduction, leading to a deprivation of fresh ideas.

Jaxxon faces attacks from alien burglars and a cult of women resisting Divinity due to fertility concerns. The film's plot, reminiscent of Frankenstein, serves as a backdrop for the filmmaker to explore abstract ideas while inundating the audience with retro-cool genre imagery. Shot with a combination of live action and stop motion, "Divinity" is a visual experience that embraces its right to get weird.

Alcazar's visual tangents, rooted in the childish endeavour to defy death, emphasize the film's underlying theme. Divinity's commercials showcase cartoonishly muscular men, reminiscent of a child's idealized superhero physique. The film navigates between the simplistic rules of a monster movie and the complex bioethics debates in Silicon Valley, offering a vision of a future that evolved parallel to our real world.

In essence, "Divinity" suggests that, despite technological advancements, the fear of mortality remains a constant. The film serves as a reminder that our attempts to escape the inevitabilities of nature are driven by a childlike desire to preserve our existence, even if it means sacrificing the essence of what makes us human.

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