Divergent-Teen Movie Review
“The Dauntless never give up,”and that’s why Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) chooses to be in the Dauntless faction. Set in futuristic Chicago, people are divided into factions based on human virtues. Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the kind), Candor (the honest), Dauntelss (the brave) and Erudite (the intelligent). The storyline centers around the life of 16-year old Beatrice Prior. Born in the Abnegation faction, Beatrice must decide whether to stay in that faction with her parents, or choose another. After taking an aptitude test, which typically dictates where you belong, Beatrice discovers that she’s Divergent, which means she doesn’t fit into just one faction. Confused and scared, Beatrice joins the Dauntless faction, changes her name to Tris, and falls in love with her handsome instructor, Four (Theo James). After enduring a long and ruthless initiation process, she and Four discover that a conspiracy is out to kill all Divergents. Now the young couple try to save not only their friends and family, but their world from the evil faction leader (Kate Winslet) before it’s too late. Based on the best-selling book series, Divergent is an action packed, suspenseful film.
Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: August 5, 2014
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
Will it Appeal to kids? Yes
Talking Points:
Though very violent and sometimes disturbing, the friendships, the romance and humor woven throughout the film was a great asset to the movie.
Parents need to be aware of the excessive violence, which is very similar to The Hunger Games Series.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Two character’s passionately kiss.
Violent Content: Excessive
- Character’s are beaten, hit, punched, kicked and shot to death throughout the film.
- Character’s are shown jumping off a high rise building and falling into a net. We also see them zip line from the top of the high rise to the ground.
- During their rigorous and ruthless initiation process, the kids are forced to do dangerous things. In several scenes we see two people fighting in a ring; they are supposed to fight until they can’t fight anymore. They also play games shooting darts at one another.
- We see character’s bruises and bloody injuries.
- Knives are thrown around Tris as she must remain still so she won’t get hit.
- A mental test is also apart of the initiation. The kids are injected with a serum so the instructor can see inside their brains. There were some very disturbing scenes as we see the character’s fears and how they handle them. In Tris’s case she was attacked by birds, she was also shown in an enclosed space, which gradually filled up with water. She had to figure out how to escape.
- A character commits suicide.
- {Spoiler Alert} Tris’s parents are shot and killed.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- “B–ch” and “h–l” are said.
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild
- Character’s are injected with a serum.
Will it Appeal to kids? Yes
Overall this is a great, suspenseful action packed film, one that pre-teens and teens will most likely enjoy. Depending on the child I feel this is appropriate for kids ages 12 and up.
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