Steven Soderbergh’s Gamble Resulted in Eddie Alcazar’s ‘Divinity,’ One of 2023’s Best-Looking Movies
After writer-director Eddie Alcazar worked with executive producer Steven Soderbergh on the 2018 thriller “Perfect,” Soderbergh made Alcazar the kind of offer independent filmmakers dream of: He would fund Alcazar’s next movie (albeit on a very small budget) with no conditions on the subject matter or style. For Alcazar, it was a great opportunity but one that came with daunting self-imposed pressures. “It’s amazing to have that kind of trust and freedom, but it put a lot of weight on my shoulders,” Alcazar told IndieWire. “I wanted to make him proud that he took the right risk.”
Soderbergh’s gamble on Alcazar’s talent and instincts paid off in the form of “Divinity,” a thrillingly original sci-fi film revolving around a future society that has been irreparably altered by a groundbreaking immortality serum. “Divinity” is a movie of big ideas about life and death and the afterlife, but what...
Soderbergh’s gamble on Alcazar’s talent and instincts paid off in the form of “Divinity,” a thrillingly original sci-fi film revolving around a future society that has been irreparably altered by a groundbreaking immortality serum. “Divinity” is a movie of big ideas about life and death and the afterlife, but what...
- 10/13/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The future looks more purgatorial than paradisiacal in “Divinity,” Eddie Alcazar’s second feature as writer-director. Like the first, 2018’s “Perfect,” this is a cryptic sci-fi body horror allegory where undeniably arresting aesthetics are nonetheless more a symptom of shallow lookism-based values than the intended critique. Stephen Dorff plays a wealthy recluse peddling the titular mystery serum, which promises eternal youth — though, naturally, there may be drawbacks. This invention attracts attention not just from consumers, but from apparent space aliens who arrive to halt its disturbance of the natural order.
Those looking for midnight-movie eccentricity will find much to enjoy in the black-and-white film’s mix of the trippy, queasy and erotic. But as before, the effortfully quirky elements don’t really add up to a cogent whole, resulting in something a mite too reflective of its creator’s background in commercials and game design — a rarefied, stimulating surface without depth.
Those looking for midnight-movie eccentricity will find much to enjoy in the black-and-white film’s mix of the trippy, queasy and erotic. But as before, the effortfully quirky elements don’t really add up to a cogent whole, resulting in something a mite too reflective of its creator’s background in commercials and game design — a rarefied, stimulating surface without depth.
- 10/9/2023
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Forsake all those who search for “Divinity,” the otherworldly Sundance breakout epic based on the search for immortality.
Eddie Alcazar writes and directs the film, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and distributed by Utopia and Sumerian.
Set in an otherworldly human existence, scientist Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula) dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum named Divinity. Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), his son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream. Society on this barren planet has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug, whose true origins are shrouded in mystery. Two mysterious brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao) arrive with a plan to abduct the mogul, and with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita (Karrueche Tran), they will be set on a path hurtling toward true immortality.
Bella Thorne, Mike O’Hearn, and Emily Willis also star.
Eddie Alcazar writes and directs the film, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and distributed by Utopia and Sumerian.
Set in an otherworldly human existence, scientist Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula) dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum named Divinity. Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), his son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream. Society on this barren planet has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug, whose true origins are shrouded in mystery. Two mysterious brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao) arrive with a plan to abduct the mogul, and with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita (Karrueche Tran), they will be set on a path hurtling toward true immortality.
Bella Thorne, Mike O’Hearn, and Emily Willis also star.
- 9/14/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Divinity can best be described as a “brain trip,” a film that acts as an upgraded ’80s B-movie. Eddie Alcazar’s futuristic, violent drama follows two brothers as they hold a scientist, the man who helped invent an everlasting-life drug called Divinity, hostage in his mansion. At times it’s beautiful to watch, shot in a shadow-focused black-and-white and set amongst a deserted landscape recalling Mad Max. Other times it’s grotesque, highlighting the disgusting physical and financial greed of a drug that’s been flooded across the world. Always, Acalazar’s film is inventive and singular.
Moises Arias and Jason Genao star as the two brothers, largely silent in these ever-present roles. Stephen Dorff portrays drugmaker and millionaire Jaxxon Pierce, the man responsible for so much of society’s excess. The three actors, along with a minimal supporting cast, do enough with Divinity‘s sparse script, willing to do whatever is needed.
Moises Arias and Jason Genao star as the two brothers, largely silent in these ever-present roles. Stephen Dorff portrays drugmaker and millionaire Jaxxon Pierce, the man responsible for so much of society’s excess. The three actors, along with a minimal supporting cast, do enough with Divinity‘s sparse script, willing to do whatever is needed.
- 1/25/2023
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
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