Divergent – ****

Divergent is an exciting introduction to the worldwide, best-selling, young adult series of the same name. It draws immediate comparisons to The Hunger Games. And although there are quite a few similarities, there are also equally as many differences that separate them apart.

Certainly, many will claim that it is just capitalizing on the groundbreaking successes of The Hunger Games, but the same can be said of the so-called “Twilight clones”. Of course, it is always best (in this reviewer’s humble opinion, anyway) to judge each piece of work (whether film, music, tv show, or even video game) on its own particular merits.

In Divergent’s universe, citizens are divided into five different factions based on human traits upon turning of age, 16: Erudite – intelligent (the thinkers), Dauntless – brave (military & security), Candor – honest (lawyers & judges), Amity – peaceful (farmers), Abnegation – selfless (politicians). To determine which faction each person will ultimately join, they each must undergo what amounts to a sadistic version of the SATs, involving psychological drug use that induces hallucinations and severe mental trauma.

After successfully passing the ‘assessment’, one must decide to either stay with their family’s faction, or select another faction to join. In this case, it differs from The Hunger Games, since candidates have choice over where they go. In contrast, in The Hunger Games, Katniss and her competitors have no choice whatsoever, and are subject to fate alone.

Beatrice Prior’s (Shailene Woodley) family is in Abnegation, so have dedicated their lives to serving others, while her father is a member of the council. She, however, has different plans for herself, and decides to join the Dauntless faction during the Choosing Ceremony instead, seeking a more adventurous life.

The initiates are still not through, though. They must first prove themselves through further trials and psychological examinations before they can be accepted as full-fledged members of their new factions. If they fail, they will become ‘factionless’, which is essentially ‘homeless’, and will be exiled from all of the factions. After the first heart-stopping test, they are allowed to choose their own names. Beatrice chooses “Tris”. It’s interesting to note how close this sounds to “Katniss” of The Hunger Games trilogy.

Tris continues her rigorous training with the rambunctious Dauntless, doing her best to keep from washing out, and becoming a lost faction-less. During the preparation for her final exam, yet another round of dangerous psychotropic drugging, she discovers from Tori (Maggie Q), who administers the drugs, that she is actually in fact a Divergent, meaning that she is endowed with traits from all of the factions. She does not fit neatly into any of the society’s prescribed categories.

This is especially dangerous, because the Erudite faction, lead by the ruthless Jeanine (Kate Winslet), are planning a massive coup d’etat to overtake governmental control from the Abnegation. Jeanine believes that as the most intelligent faction, they should also hold all of the power. Tris and her allies must prevent Jeanine from succeeding. 

Shailene Woodley, quickly becoming Hollywood’s darling, gives a powerful performance as Tris/Beatrice. She is remarkable in softly quiet scenes, as well as full-blown action sequences. Her mentor and love interest, Four (Theo James) does well, too, and gives her the room to fly (quite literally) on her own two wings. The supporting cast is wonderful as well, especially her mother, Natalie, (Ashley Judd) and Tori. It is also somewhat amusing that one of her biggest bullies, Peter (Miles Teller) is her lover from last year’s indie hit, The Spectacular Now.

Divergent is a fun, springtime popcorn film that is significantly lighter fare than the last of the Oscar season entries. And the ending nicely sets up the next chapter in the series.