Divinity (film)

Divinity is a 2023 American science fiction film written and directed by Eddie Alcazar and starring Stephen Dorff, Moises Arias, Jason Genao, Karrueche Tran, Michael O'Hearn, Emily Willis, Scott Bakula, and Bella Thorne. The film had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023 and was released theatrically in the United States on October 14, 2023.

Premise
Set in an otherworldly human existence, scientist Sterling Pierce dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum named "Divinity". Jaxxon Pierce, his son, now controls and manufactures his father's once-benevolent dream into a malicious nightmare.

Production
Steven Soderbergh and Eddie Alcazar announced in September 2021 that they were collaborating on a new film with Alcazar directing and Soderbergh producing, and Soderbergh serving as executive producer. In April 2022, Scott Bakula and Bella Thorne joined the cast, and DJ Muggs would compose the music. The film uses stop-motion for an extended fight scene. The film was made without a script, according to Alcazar: "There is no script for this film, so I was trusted with the virtue of doing my own thing. And I started drawing and sketching ideas, and that’s pretty much how it all came about."

Release
Divinity had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023, followed by an international premiere at the Taormina Film Festival on June 29, 2023.

In March 2023, Utopia and Sumerian acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film, later setting it for a theatrical release in the United States on October 13, 2023. The film utilized a platform release starting in New York, followed by Los Angeles on October 20, and the wide release began on November 3. The film received an SAG-AFTRA interim agreement to allow cast members to promote the theatrical release during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Reception
Jeannette Catsoulis, writing for New York Times, described the film as, "an unintentionally comical sci-fi diatribe obsessed with beautiful bodies, bickering brothers and biblical symbolism". She continued, "the occasionally arresting visuals, though, are repeatedly undercut by dumb dialogue and often atrocious acting, the whole experienced through a wall of throbbing, squawking sound. This is not the movie to see if you are nursing a hangover".

Jacob Oller, writing for Paste, described it as "a little like a self-important Barbarella, full of half-hearted titillation and taking place in that indistinguishable gray area between a moonbase and a Hollywood sex dungeon", while Nadir Samara, writing for ScreenRant, had a more positive review, praising the visual style, casting, and world-building.