The Divide

Name: The Divide
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Released: January 13, 2012
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 28

2012

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 60 Ratings

See All

6.1

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.1	Your Score
6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 60 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Divide

Now Playing: The Divide

Movie Details & Credits

Anchor Bay Films | Release Date: January 13, 2012 | Not Rated

Summary: Nine strangers--all tenants of a New York high rise apartment--escape a nuclear attack by hiding out in the building's bunker-like basement. Trapped for days underground with no hope for rescue, and only unspeakable horrors awaiting them on the other side of the bunker door, the group begins to descend into madness, each turning on the oneNine strangers--all tenants of a New York high rise apartment--escape a nuclear attack by hiding out in the building's bunker-like basement. Trapped for days underground with no hope for rescue, and only unspeakable horrors awaiting them on the other side of the bunker door, the group begins to descend into madness, each turning on the one another with physical and psycho-sexual torment. As supplies dwindle, and tensions flare, and they grow increasingly unhinged by their close quarters and hopelessness, each act against one another becomes more depraved than the next. While everyone in the bunker allows themselves to be overcome by the desperation and lose their humanity, one survivor holds onto a thin chance to escape even with no promise of salvation on the outside. (Anchor Bay Films)… Expand

Director: Xavier Gens

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 110 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Jan 14, 2012

The Divide manages to transcend its numerous flaws while indulging them: No matter where it falters, the underlying purpose stays put. Read full review

Scott Tobias

Jan 11, 2012

Better performances might have sold The Divide, but aside from Arquette's fine work as a single mother driven to self-degradation, the cast amplifies the impression of a canned, one-act theater piece. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Jan 10, 2012

Unintentionally true to its title, The Divide first goes for a similar bleakness (it barely registers as entertainment), then lurches into a rousing, vengeful finale; both sides of the equation add up to less than zero. Read full review

Joe Leydon

Jan 7, 2012

Plodding and repetitive in its efforts to maintain pressure-cooker intensity, The Divide resembles nothing so much as an extended "Twilight Zone" episode as it brings a sci-fi twist to a familiar scenario about stressed characters who bring out the worst in each other while trapped in close quarters. Read full review

David DeWitt

Jan 12, 2012

We wait, from one cringe-inducing, hide-your-face-from-the-screen act after another, to see how much worse the behavior will become. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Jan 11, 2012

The cynic in me notes that the whole, dismal enterprise is just a cheap steal from Roger Corman's 1955 film "Day the World Ended." At least that single set-bound cheapie had a three-eyed mutant to enliven the otherwise stagy proceedings. Read full review

Rex Reed

Jan 10, 2012

Expect the dregs for weeks to come, but I can safely say with absolutely no trepidation that it is unlikely to get worse than a lurid, lewd and loathsome shockfest called The Divide. Read full review

SEE ALL 17 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

ilscuro

Apr 9, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I can't understand all the negativity towards this movie, yes it's brutal and hard to watch, but try to imagine the feeling of being trapped in a basement after a nuclear war, knowing all your friends and loved ones have died, the feeling of helplessness that you're going to die of starvation or worse, and knowing it will take a few hundred years for the radiation to subside, the way certain characters descend into madness is portrayed very well, may i suggest all the haters of the film stick to romcoms in future.… Expand

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

Tim7472

Jan 6, 2019

Very cruel (not in the sense of blood or smth.) film. It shows the truth about what will happen to people locked in a room without going out. And not everyone will like this truth.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JudgeNjury

Apr 22, 2012

Just what the doctor ordered - when feeling down & wanting some survival horror movie - this one hits the spot with the slow descent into madness. Each step in this journey makes you wake up to be aware of just how far they have come - there maybe just a few minutes between one scene & theJust what the doctor ordered - when feeling down & wanting some survival horror movie - this one hits the spot with the slow descent into madness. Each step in this journey makes you wake up to be aware of just how far they have come - there maybe just a few minutes between one scene & the next - but the movie makes you acutely aware how much time must have passed. Some of the plot towards the end isn't exactly what I would have written, but it gets it through rather quick to a satisfyingly desolate ending.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

iLightning

Sep 11, 2013

The Divide presents the dark and merciless side of post-apocalyptic survival surprisingly well. Although the film lacks spectacle and the setting remains the same for pretty much the whole movie I felt compelled to keep watching to find out what would happen to the nine survivors as theThe Divide presents the dark and merciless side of post-apocalyptic survival surprisingly well. Although the film lacks spectacle and the setting remains the same for pretty much the whole movie I felt compelled to keep watching to find out what would happen to the nine survivors as the story progressed. Their stark love-or-hate personalities clashed really well over the two-hour film and it soon becomes clear that no one is perfect when their life is on the line. However, I would have liked to have seen more of the devastated city outside the basement before the credits rolled. Despite this, The Divide is still captivating and engaging with a clear message about how low humanity has the potential to go.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Tkwz

Aug 2, 2012

The only thing I will never undestand in these kind of movies is... why does the worst ALWAYS happen? Worst case scenario in every single case! The characters put inside that basement were impossible mix all by themselves, paired with that it just makes this movie completely detached fromThe only thing I will never undestand in these kind of movies is... why does the worst ALWAYS happen? Worst case scenario in every single case! The characters put inside that basement were impossible mix all by themselves, paired with that it just makes this movie completely detached from reality. Yes, I understand the point authors try to make, but you need at least one character you can relate to and a setting that seems adequately plausible to immerse yourself in it, otherwise it's just like a nightmare, you wake up and realize it was total ****… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ThoughtCriminal

Jul 18, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Right off the bat the movie got under my skin. I'm a big nuclear junkie, Obsessed with the cold war and nuclear anything, anyway, It had Eva staring at the mushroom cloud from her apartment building, the flash is enough to blind a person from many miles away and at Eva's distance she would have had severe burns all over her body not to mention glass and whatever **** the blast would throw right at her. Nitpicking the details aside though, This movie had good potential. I understand why it appeals to some, this is probably a pretty good portrait of what this kind of survival situation would deteriorate into, but it's a movie for **** sake. Micky was a good dynamic character, sort of a curmudgeon, kind of like house. They had some nice personality clashing going on and then the military or what the **** ever bust in, and take the kid for no obvious reason. Why they don't kill everyone else or weld the door shut right away, who knows, for some reason they see fit to build a totally realistic plastic tunnel that leads to their evil child lab. The movie turns to **** soon after. Black guy gets killed and then they cut off Micky's finger for the panic room combo and then we see none of him for pretty much the whole movie while we get treated to alot of rape and Eva, Sam and that other guy act like **** Because it would be so hard to bash the 2 evil guy's heads in while they sleep with some piece of junk in the basement. Anyway, after **** picks up again and Sam gets the Luger (I gotta admit I did enjoy everyone yelling and Sam eventually shooting the one good guy because he liked his girlfriend) Eva helps Micky out of the chair and Micky caps the remaining evildoer in the chest like the bad ass mother****er that he is, and what does Eve do but LOCK THEM IN THE ****ING BASEMENT WHILE SHE ESCAPES. WHAT THE **** THAT **** That's really what the movie left me with was a feeling of wanting to punch Eva in the ovaries.
Was certainly interesting to watch but in the end it was not a good movie.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

Doxide

Mar 31, 2012

What the hell did I just watch? This is one of those movies that depicts "mankind's descent into madness in the face of desperate situations". I am by no means a squeamish move-goer but there is a right way and a stupid way to do these sorts of movies. The "character development" in thisWhat the hell did I just watch? This is one of those movies that depicts "mankind's descent into madness in the face of desperate situations". I am by no means a squeamish move-goer but there is a right way and a stupid way to do these sorts of movies. The "character development" in this movie is so unbelievable, you'll find yourself shaking your head at the idiocy of what you're seeing on screen. Every part of the plot depends on the **** character acting like more of an **** or the weak willed pansy screwing up a plan because of his own fear. Or the kind-hearted female protagonist who acts as the moral compass of the group until she's pushed too far and then at the end emerges as a kickass heroine-but not before everything went to hell. We have seen these cardboard types so often in films that we almost know exactly what's going to happen throughout the film. Just once I want to see a movie about some intelligent, tough protagonist who puts a bullet in the heads of all these morons and then leads the group to salvation through ingenuity and team-work. Please Hollywood, surprise me just once.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

SEE ALL 17 REVIEWS