Inquiring Minds: Sundance Film Festival 2023: DIVINITY & ANIMALIA

This is the column that digs into the science fiction lover’s world, tackling some of the most complex and perplexing that content allows. Is it weird? Most likely. Do we love it? Yes! It’ll likely be thought-provoking, and potentially illuminating. Intriguing minds, unite for the weirdest Film Inquiry Column yet.

I recently was back at Sundance in person for the first time since 2020, and I happily noticed that there were some sci-fi movies on the menu. I figured it’d be a great opportunity for this month’s column.

These both revolve primarily in a heady space (as is often the case) but the one I liked more, Animalia, also settles into the heart.

Animalia (Sofia Alaoui)

There’s a sense of wonder within Animalia, Sofia Alaoui‘s feature film debut, that can be felt from the beautiful costumes to the landscape, to the impeccable sound design. It’s a science-fiction film that manages to feel like a horror in moments, and also a coming-of-age story in others.

Pregnant Itto (Oumaïma Barid) lives with her husband, Amine (Mehdi Dehbi), and his family in Morocco. Despite being surrounded by others she feels like an outsider, especially with Amine’s mother. When a supernatural disaster occurs, Itto is left alone and desperate to get back to her husband. From there she starts on the arduous trip to reunite, crossing paths with multiple people and even bears witness to what mystical circumstance awaits.

Animalia is well-executed and calculated in what it conveys and what it chooses to withhold. There’s room for introspection in the vast potential of its supernatural premise, but Oumaïma Barid’s performance also gives us a lot to chew on. Itto asks the questions we are thinking about even if we don’t get the answers. This is one of those occasions where less is more, and the unknown reverberates as strongly as what is defined.

I felt mesmerized by her journey. While occasionally marred by its languid pacing, there’s a visual language that tells the story even when words do not. It’s a beautiful film, poetic in its telling. This checked all of the boxes for me regarding a great new science fiction endeavor: hypnotic cinematography, a character you can follow and empathize with, and a narrative that requires some digestion. The script, also written by Alaoui, is a tale of self discovery.

By its end, you won’t necessarily feel fulfilled, but you will seek a resolution even if it’s marred. Animalia is a distinctive take on supernatural circumstances that make you question everything. It’s a heady, beautifully shot journey into an introspective mode of existentialism of beauty and loneliness that shouldn’t be ignored. Alaoui proves that she can craft a thrilling mystery.

Eerie yet beautiful, thought-provoking, and rich. It’s ambiguous but you feel the enormity of its narrative, especially through Oumaïma Barid’s hypnotic performance. This feature debut from Sofia Alaoui is a stunner.

Divinity (Eddie Alcazar)

Does everyone want to live forever? But at what cost? We open to scientist Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula) before then transitioning to his son Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff). It seems to exist in a non-descript time and place that has left most infertile, but immortal, a creation started by Sterling but finished by Jaxxon. A drug known as: divinity.

We then see Jaxxon with a sex worker Nikita (Karrueche Tran) when two aliens (Moises Arias, and Jason Genao)  show up taking him hostage.

I’m going to break here for a second because the story jumps a lot and the characters introduced don’t always have a clear intent. We meet Ziva (Bella Thorne) who brings Nikita into her group of a female-led rebellion. But, like much of the film, the specifics tend to take a back seat to the aesthetics and the mood. The players all have their own motives, and the world seems to be on the verge of collapse.

Is Divinity a grandiose spectacle or does it harness just the right amount of ingenuity and strange allure that science fiction demands? It is bound to confound and frustrate but it also tempts your senses. Presented in stark black and white it captures the devoid and strange vibe that Divinity excels at.

Divinity borders on nonsense at times, but its dissection of immortality proves to be enjoyable. The performance to watch is definitely Karrueche Tran. The technical aspects of this film are also exquisite, be it sound, makeup, or production. There’s live action and stop motion, and the direction from Eddie Alcazar shows he’s an artist to watch out for. But, does this wield a success? I think it depends on the viewer’s patience and ability to succumb. I admire its boldness more than I enjoyed the finished product.

Conclusion:

Both of these new sci-fi’s have a look that is singular, with a sheen of nuance and style worthy of a Sundance pick.

There is something about a good science fiction story that shakes me. It curdles inside and makes me question even the most delicate of human fragilities. Both of these did that in one way or another, and for that I am grateful.

Until next month!