Review: Division 19

Sci-fi can be a tricky thing to pull off on a low budget, especially when you've got a film with big ideas in it. However, if you've got a good script, director and actors, it can work.

Division 19 certainly has a lot of big ideas, and if you heard our interview with writer/director Suzie Halewood, you know she had some even bigger things she wanted to try, but had to hold back due to lack of funding. Was she still able to pull off a good movie?

Yes and no.

Halewood has a lot to stay about our social-media addicted society, our rampant consumerism, and our apathy, and those messages come through loud and clear in this flick. The film is not lacking in brains, that's for sure. It's a good sci-fi script!

The acting is also decent, which shouldn't surprise as it features accomplished performers like Jamie Draven, Alison Doody, Lotte Verbeek, and Clarke Peters. They do good work here, playing characters that aren't so much characters, but symbols of ourselves. Draven is the self who can do something, but doesn't. His brother Nash, played by Will Rothhaar, is the self who acts, even if he fails. See what's going on here?

Like I said, this is a smart movie. And, if you don't pay close attention, you'll miss something. Halewood did the best she could with what she had. Too bad Division 19 lacks a bit more forward momentum to hold one's attention. At least this viewer's attention, that is.

I like my movies with a bit more oomph, a little more payoff. Division 19 felt like it was going somewhere, and almost gets there more than once, but then holds back when I hoped it would have kicked a little more ass. It's more artsy and cinematic but, unlike a Blade Runner, we don't leave the film feeling satisfied.

I wanted more. That's all. More. As a result, this rates a Bad.

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