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The Correct Order To Watch The Divergent Movies

This post contains spoilers for the "Divergent" trilogy.

The "chosen one" trope is a staple of young adult fare, through some franchises have made an effort to subvert it. For instance, "The Hunger Games" protagonist Katniss Everdeen is meant to embody the Mockingjay throughout "The Hunger Games" series , but she consistently detests being used as a revolutionary symbol for political propaganda. A similarly subversive figure emerges in Veronica Roth's "Divergent" book series, where Beatrice "Tris" Prior is initially presented as an anomaly within the system — with facets of the "chosen one" formula guiding her arc — only to be revealed as just one of many such anomalies. What really makes her stand out is being brave enough to challenge the status quo.

When director Neil Burger's adaptation of Roth's first book, "Divergent," was released in 2014, the film received mixed reviews from critics but did pretty well at the box office. Shailene Woodley's Tris felt fleshed out enough to ground the adaptation, which takes a rather bland approach to the source material. "Divergent" was followed by two sequels, "Insurgent" and "Allegiant," but the decision to split the third novel into two movies ultimately doomed the series and robbed it of a proper ending.

Although the watch order for the "Divergent" trilogy is pretty straightforward, it is worth looking at the missed opportunities that each entry should have capitalized on, and what the fourth canceled "Divergent" film ("Ascendant") might have added to the chronology of this dystopian tale. Without further ado, let us venture into a world ruled by factions, where expressing individuality is the greatest sin, but experiencing a crisis of identity is an even greater crime.

The Divergent story starts with (you guessed it!) Divergent

Start with 2014's "Divergent," which introduces us to post-apocalyptic Chicago. The aftermath of an unexplained war has led to the creation of five factions, which function as social indicators of personal and collective identity. Abnegation is for the selfless, who live monastic lives removed from capitalistic overindulgence, Erudite is for those who value knowledge and pioneer scientific progress, and Candor is for those who value the truth above all else. If someone chooses Amity, they value peace and favor political neutrality, while the Dauntless are described as fearless and are officially in charge of the city's security. Tris is forced to navigate these rather limiting factions as a rogue cog who refuses to fit into the machine, and her Divergent status puts her in immense danger.

There are some intriguing aspects to "Divergent" that could have been explored in the sequels to great effect, such as the direct correlation between state-led surveillance and societal identity. Although Tris is our lens for navigating this world, her field of vision beyond the first "Divergent" film feels extremely limited and is rarely invested with the fleeting depth that the novel series builds its foundation on. The inability to fit into boxed categories results in complete societal exclusion — leading to the factionless being exempted from integration — but the adaptations do not dwell on this aspect well enough, if at all. The "Divergent" films also missed out on the opportunity to improve upon Roth's sketchy worldbuilding in the books.

Insurgent is the second Divergent movie, Allegiant is the third

After watching "Divergent," move on to "Insurgent," which explores the aftermath of the coup and sees Tris in graver danger as the government declares Divergents to be societal threats who need to be eradicated. Tris is not the only Divergent, of course; Tobias/Four (Theo James) is also one, hinting at a deeper conspiracy behind a system so obsessed with erasing individuality but hell-bent on defining the human spectrum with only one overarching quality. Although parts of "Insurgent" sag under the weight of an overstuffed script, it feels more profound than its predecessor, as it does the legwork to competently grapple with some of its core themes. As bare minimum as that sounds, it is undoubtedly better than "Allegiant," the next and final destination of this watch order.

The first issue with "Allegiant" is that it only tells half a story due the book being split into two planned movies. However, the real reason why "Allegiant" officially put an end to the franchise lies in its noticeable drop in quality. The convoluted nature of the story emerges as neither visually arresting nor thematically entertaining enough for audiences to even bother with what happens next. The canceled film, "Ascendant," intended to explore Tris' attempt to expose a horrifying genetic experiment, which eventually leads to her death. This marks a turning point in Tobias' arc, and the advent of a new future thanks to Tris' sacrifice.

Had "Allegiant" incorporated the entirety of the novel's arc in its final installment, the film wouldn't have ended on a cliffhanger, but there is some comfort in knowing that we're probably not missing out on much. After all, there is no dearth of better YA adaptations that explore growing pains and fissures within personal identity. 

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• DVD & Streaming

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

• Action/Adventure , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi/Fantasy , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• March 18, 2016
• Shailene Woodley as Tris; Theo James as Four; Naomi Watts as Evelyn; Octavia Spencer as Johanna; Jeff Daniels as David; Zoë Kravitz as Christina; Ansel Elgort as Caleb; Miles Teller as Peter

Home Release Date

• July 12, 2016
• Robert Schwentke

Distributor

Movie review.

In the last Divergent movie, Insurgent , the brave heroine Tris cracked open a box and learned that her life—and the lives of everyone else in the walled-off city of Chicago—were part of a weird, grand experiment. The mysterious message in that mysterious box invited everyone to leave the walls behind and re-enter the big, broad world outside.

Yeah, about that. Not gonna happen. Not if Evelyn has her way.

Evelyn has taken charge after the city’s strange faction system (wherein residents were split into tribal groups via, essentially, Myers-Briggs personality tests) finally crumbled. And while she sure didn’t like living under someone’s thumb before, now that she’s the thumb it’s not so bad. And, frankly, she’d like to keep everyone right where they are—in Chicago. After all, there’s no telling what might really be out there! Mutant dinosaurs, maybe, or laser-toting werewolves. The point is that it could be dangerous. So to keep everyone safe, Evelyn may have to kill people to keep them from leaving.

Naturally, Tris—who has yet to find an authority figure she’ll listen to—wants to break out. (One of these movies should really be called Insolent ). Her perpetually angry lover Four, of course, still has her back, along with her good friends Christina and Tori. Slimy frienemy Peter has somehow squirreled his way into her clique of personality, too, and Four breaks Tris’ backstabbing brother, Caleb, out of prison just in time for the breach-the-wall festivities. (Good timing, that; the guy was about to go on trial, and Evelyn’s trials always seem to end with a bullet to the head.)

After much walking (and a disappointing lack of mutant dinosaurs), Tris and Co. come across a futuristic city, full of folks who’ve been watching Tris all her life, Truman Show -style. (Remember: She’s a science experiment.) Now that Tris found their message and stopped by for a visit, the experiment is over—or so Tris would hope. These futuristic saviors will swoop into Chicago, rein in Evelyn and make everything better. Right?

Yeah, about that.

Positive Elements

Tris (real name: Beatrice, like the messenger of salvation in Dante’s Divine Comedy ) means well. While reluctant to take on a leadership role in war-torn Chicago, she sincerely wants to help these folks. And when she comes across the colony of futuristic survivors, she’s inclined to trust them, hoping her trust can lead to salvation not just for her, but everyone back home.

But when it becomes clear that such faith in her fellow man has been misplaced, Tris works equally hard to counteract the aftereffects, trying to save not only her friends, but the entire city of Chicago from a terrible fate.

Even though they spend way too much time kissing at inappropriate moments, Tris and Four clearly care about each other’s well-being. And despite her brother’s betrayal just one movie ago, Tris still saves Caleb from the angry masses. “It’s what you do for family,” she explains. Later, Caleb has a chance to return the favor.

Spiritual Elements

Before injecting truth serum into a man standing trial, the interrogator says, “May the truth set you free” (evoking John 8:32). David, the guy who runs the futuristic outpost, calls Tris a “miracle.”

Sexual Content

When Tris and her cohorts arrive at the futuristic city, they’re forced to take showers (to wash radiation and mutant dino dust off their bodies). To comply, Tris takes off her shirt (we see her bare back) and then her pants. (Her naked body is silhouetted.) Women’s tops are sometimes low-cut. As mentioned, Tris and Four frequently kiss and clutch.

Violent Content

Four makes Rambo look like a well-adjusted accountant here, knocking out or outright killing dozens of people when the mood strikes. He and others engage in a host of hand-to-hand battles, sometimes ending with a knife to the gut or neck. (The fights are frenetic and jarring, but rarely bloody.) Regular gunfights push the casualty count even higher.

Evelyn is in the process of trying those who were part of the previous regime’s reign of terror. Suspects are injected with truth serum (via a long needle), which forces them to be painfully honest. One such perp says he doesn’t feel bad about the indiscriminate killing he did in service to Jeanine: “People are sheep,” he says, “and when they resist, we slaughter them.” He’s shot in the back of the head (offscreen) as the crowd cheers. And we see another such execution take place as well. Verdicts seem to be determined by the hooting and hollering legion of onlookers, giving the whole atmosphere a bloodthirsty, gladiatorial feel.

Explosions rock tank-like vehicles, sending one tumbling (and injuring/burning the driver pretty badly). Children are yanked away from their parents by raiders. A flying ship careens and crashes into the ground. People are knocked out by tiny drones. A boy hits a drone with a rock.

It’s worth noting that radiation has turned the soil and water red. “Great, now the sky’s bleeding,” Peter says when it begins to rain. And as a result of this anomaly, a number of people periodically look as if they’re covered with diluted blood.

Crude or Profane Language

Four or five s-words. We also hear scattered interjections of “a–” (once), “d–n” (once) and “h—” (three or four times), along with two or three misuses of God’s name and one use of “gadzooks.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

I’ve mentioned the truth serum already. And a vaporous gas has the ability to wipe away memories.

Other Negative Elements

Several people lie for their own ends.

Allegiant , the third movie in The Divergent Series , is not too terrible when it comes to problematic content. In fact, it’s actually a tad tidier than its two predecessors—a Hollywood rarity.

While Tris and Four frequently smooch and make googly eyes at each other, their sexual shenanigans aren’t even hinted at (unlike in Insurgent ). Also absent is the sheer terror of the tests Tris goes through in the first film, and the brutal virtual torture she endures in the second. Fists and knives and bullets aplenty do still fly, often finding their marks. But compared to the virtual-reality misery of the first two flicks, these “real-world” fights and deaths feel, by comparison, of little emotional consequence.

But therein lies the problem, too. While this movie is marginally cleaner than its predecessors in terms of content, it’s unquestionably worse in terms of story.

Some of that is perhaps the result of the “Hobbitization” of the film. The folks at Lionsgate opted to stretch one book—in this case, Veronica Roth’s Allegiant —into two movies. And that opens the door to what I’ll call the cheap fast-food taco syndrome: too much filler and not enough meat.

Then there’s the lack of common sense we see here. Take a critical scene in which Tris storms past David, a super-elite scientist who rules over his own tiny kingdom with an iron fist. “I’m taking your ship, and I’m not coming back,” she says. David merely watches her walk past while saying in a tone of exasperation, “You can’t fly.” This seems a strange response, given the circumstances. If my daughter stormed past me, car keys in hand, saying she was going to steal my car and not come back, I think I’d do a bit more than just say, “You can’t drive a stick.”

It’s a shame. Divergent ostensibly wants its viewers to use its dystopian construct as a channel toward considering their own personalities, celebrating the differences in one another and, perhaps most importantly, weighing the stubborn power of love, mercy and sacrifice (symbolized by the Abnegation faction).

But what we’re actually left with is a jumbled collection of heavyweight special effects and flyweight characters carrying out a sci-fi war that seems more about showing off Four’s fantastic nunchuck skills and Tris’ defiant charm than making any kind of meaningful philosophic or spiritual stand.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Short takes

Not recommended under 14; parental guidance to 14 (themes and violence)

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Divergent
• a review of Divergent completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 15 April 2014 .

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Divergent is a science fiction action film set in the dystopian Chicago of a future time. Society has been divided into five factions based on personality testing run by the government: Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), Candor (truthful), Erudite (intelligent) and Dauntless (brave). The film follows the story of Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley), a girl with a family heritage from Abnegation. After undergoing the personality testing, it is discovered that she does not fall clearly within any of the five categories – she is a ‘Divergent’, and is told that she will be hunted and killed if anyone discovers this. At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice elects to go against her family heritage and be a part of the Dauntless faction.  

Changing her name to ‘Tris’, she struggles initially, but soon becomes one of the most fearless members of the faction. She quickly gains the respect of her instructor, Tobias (Theo James), and the two later develop a more intimate relationship. During the training, initiates are put through a range of physical tests in addition to psychological ones. When the psychological testing reveals that Tris is unlike the other initiates, Tobias encourages her to practice in an effort to conceal her powers as a Divergent. However, when the Erudites drug the Dauntless soldiers and it is only Tobias and Tris who remain unaffected, the two are forced to abandon the secrecy which had protected them, standing up against a powerful faction and its leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet).

Themes info

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Family loyalty versus patriotic duty; betrayal and trust; identity; totalitarian states

Use of violence info

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is considerable violence in the film, including hand to hand fighting with knives and gun fights. Examples include:

• The initiates often fight each other when they are training. They are given weapons that simulate the sensation of being shot with a gun, and are required to shoot each other.
• Tris is grabbed by three masked men when she returns to Dauntless one night. They hold her while she struggles, and try to throw her off the side of a cliff. She is saved by Tobias.
• One of the other initiates kills himself because of guilt. He was likely to be cut from Dauntless, and tried to kill Tris in order to boost his position on the leader board. We see his body being pulled up after he has hung himself. 
• When Abnegation is under attack from the Dauntless soldiers (under the influence of mind control), many Abnegation citizens are shot and killed. Dead bodies can be seen on the floor, with blood on them.
• Tris is shot in the final battle with the Dauntless soldiers. Her mother and father are also both shot and killed.
• Tris is forced to kill one of the initiates she trained with, as he is under the influence of mind control and is trying to shoot her.
• When Tris is facing her fears within the simulations, Tobias aggressively tries to have sex with her. He pushes her down on the bed, but she kicks him in the groin and punches him in the face to throw him off.
• Tris throws a knife through Jeanine’s hand, pinning her to a board.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under five info.

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

Most of the film would be scary for this age group.

Aged five to eight info

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes , there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged under five to eight, including the following:

• Tris loses both of her parents during the final battle – her mother and father are both shot trying to save and protect her. When her mother dies, Tris is very distressed and breaks down. By the time her father dies, she has taken on more of a soldier mentality and just continues with the mission and what needs to be done. 

Aged eight to thirteen info

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the scenes involving the death of Tris’ parents and also:

• It is implied that Tobias was physically abused by his father when he was younger. During Tobias’ induced nightmares, we see his father standing before him holding a belt and talking about it being in the best interests of Tobias.

Thirteen and over info

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.

Product placement

None of concern

Sexual references

Nudity and sexual activity.

There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in the film, including:

• After joining Dauntless, Tris is required to get changed in a room with both men and women – she takes off her shirt and is seen in her bra and pants.
• Tobias removes his shirt in order to show Tris his tattoo.
• Passionate kissing

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in the film, including:

• In order to be tested psychologically, the initiates are injected with a serum that induces nightmares. They then hallucinate their worst fears.
• All members of Dauntless are injected with a serum that turns them into ‘mindless drones’ by making them more susceptible to suggestion – they are then used as weapons against the other factors.

Coarse language

There is some use of coarse language in the film, including the terms:

• ‘bitch’, ‘asshole’ and exclamations involving ‘God’

In a nutshell

Divergent is a science fiction action fantasy that centres on the concept of identity, and how individuals build their own unique identities against the pre-existing influences of family, relationships and their responsibilities to society. It is the first screen adaptation of author Veronica Roth's best-selling dystopian trilogy which many teens and some tweens may have read. The film begins with Tris having very little idea as to who she is as a person, and what she is capable of. The trials she goes through during the training within Dauntless enable her to discover that she is far braver and stronger than she could have ever imagined. The main message is that it is possible to achieve anything with enough determination and strength of character.

The film features frequent violence, is tense and scary and has themes that younger children may find difficult to understand. It is therefore not recommended for under 15s.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with older children include:

• Respecting your family and standing by them, even in instances where they elect to make different choices.
• Pushing yourself to be more than you – and others – think you capable of being.
• Taking risks is crucial in regards to personal development and being able to live a full life without fear.

 This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss:

• The nature and dangers of totalitarian states, and the importance of not having centralised power in the hands of individuals who may abuse it.
• The treatment of minority groups within a society that is fearful of them.
• The issue of individual compliance versus independence.

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"Divergent" is all about identity—about searching your soul and determining who you are and how you fit in as you emerge from adolescence to adulthood. So it's all too appropriate that the film version of the wildly popular young adult novel struggles a bit to assert itself as it seeks to appeal to the widest possible audience.

It's the conundrum so many of these types of books face as they become pop-culture juggernauts and film franchises: which elements to keep to please the fervent fans and which to toss in the name of maintaining a lean, speedy narrative? The "Harry Potter" and "Hunger Games" movies—which "Divergent" resembles in myriad ways—were mostly successful in finding that balance.

In bringing the first novel of Veronica Roth's best-selling trilogy to the screen, director Neil Burger (" Limitless ") and screenwriters Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor have included key moments and images but tweaked others to streamline the mythology and move the story along. The results can be thrilling but the film as a whole feels simultaneously overlong and emotionally truncated.

Folks who've read the book will probably be satisfied with the results, while those unfamiliar with the source material may dismiss it as derivative and inferior. (Stop me if you think you've heard this one before: "Divergent" takes place in a rigidly structured, dystopian future where one extraordinary girl will serve either as its destroyer or its savior.) But the performances—namely from stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James and Kate Winslet in a juicy supporting role—always make the movie watchable and often quite engaging.

In the fenced-off remnants of a post-war Chicago 100 years from now, society has been broken down into five factions—groups of people arranged by a primary, defining trait. The Amity are happy, hippie farmers who dress in shades of sorbet. The Candor run the judicial system and value truth about all else. The Erudite are the serious-minded scholars who wear conservative, dark blue. The Abnegation are known for their selflessness and modesty. And the pierced-and-tatted Dauntless are the brave soldiers who protect the city from … who knows what? Whatever the perceived threat is, it requires them to run, scream and practice parkour wherever they go.

Woodley's Beatrice Prior is a member of the Abnegation alongside her brother, Caleb ( Ansel Elgort ), and their parents ( Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn ). They dress in drab colors, eat simply and are only allowed to steal a quick glance in the mirror once every three months when it's time for a haircut. Basically, they're no fun, and Beatrice has a wild streak in her that she's been forced to suppress.  

When she undergoes the aptitude test required of all teens, which determines which faction is the best reflection of one's true nature, her results are inconclusive. She's got pieces of a few different places in her, which makes her what's known as Divergent, which makes her dangerous. Thinking for yourself is a naughty thing in this world, apparently; plus, the angsty inner conflict that rages within Beatrice is something to which the target audience for the book (and the movie) surely can relate.

At the annual Choosing Ceremony, where the teens use their test results to pick the faction they want to join for the rest of their lives—like the last night of sorority rush, mixed with the "Harry Potter" sorting hat—Beatrice dares to choose Dauntless. This means she can never see her family again. (Man, the rules are strict in dystopian futures.) But it also means she gets to train to unleash the bad-ass that's been lurking inside her all along.

Renaming herself Tris, our heroine must learn how to fight, shoot, jump from moving trains, throw knives and control her mind in a series of harrowing simulations, all while competing against a couple dozen other initiates in a demanding ranking system. Eric (a coolly intimidating Jai Courtney ) is the merciless Dauntless leader who's taking the faction—which was founded on the notion of noble courage—in a more militant and vicious direction.

But the hunky trainer who goes by the name Four (James) is the one who will have a greater impact on the woman Tris will become. Quietly and generically brooding at first, James reveals more depth and shading to his conflicted character as the story's stakes increase. He and Woodley have an easy chemistry with each other, but the romance that took its time and smoldered on the page feels a bit rushed on the screen.

Similarly, the supporting figures who had identifiable personalities in the book mostly blend into the background here, including Tris' best friend, Christina ( Zoe Kravitz ). But it is extremely amusing to see Miles Teller , who played Woodley's first love last year in the wonderful " The Spectacular Now ," serve as her enemy here as the conniving fellow initiate Peter. The smart-alecky Teller is also the only actor here who gets to have much fun. With the exception of a few major set pieces—the zip-line ride from the top of the John Hancock Center, for example—"Divergent" is a rather dark and heavy endeavor.

Woodley, though, by virtue of the sheer likability of her presence, keeps you hanging on, keeps you rooting for her. She may not have the blazing, rock-star power of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in " The Hunger Games ," but there's a subtlety and a naturalism to her performance that make her very accessible and appealing. And when she needs to crank it up and kick some butt—as she does in a climactic scene with Winslet as the evil Erudite leader who's hell-bent on eradicating Divergents and maintaining control—she doesn't oversell it.

Plus, there could be worse role models for the eager adolescent audience than a young woman who's thoughtful, giving and strong—all at once. The inevitable sequel will show us what else she's got in her.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Divergent (2014)

Rated PG-13

143 minutes

Shailene Woodley as Beatrice Prior / Tris

Theo James as Tobias "Four" Eaton

Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews

Miles Teller as Peter

Jai Courtney as Eric

Zoë Kravitz as Christina

Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior

Ray Stevenson as Marcus Eaton

Maggie Q as Tori

• Neil Burger
• Evan Daugherty
• Vanessa Taylor

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This first half of the artificially split two-part finally may diverge from Veronica Roth's source material, but doesn't necessarily solve its problems.

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Gazing out over the wall that encircles Chicago at the end of “ The Divergent Series: Allegiant ,” Tris Prior longs for the time when she didn’t know what lay on the other side. Her imagination, like ours, had clearly been primed for exciting revelations beyond the realm of Veronica Roth’s juvie sci-fi franchise, which inexplicably switches allegories late in the game. What began as a massive, if astoundingly implausible sociology exercise — where citizens were sorted into character-specific factions, like Hogwarts first-years awaiting their house assignments — has morphed into a downright ridiculous anti-eugenics parable. And whereas Roth’s political subtext was previously rich enough to overlook the films’ second-rate action set pieces, her message has become so muddled, Summit has every reason to worry whether tween audiences (already down $20 million since the first movie) will remain allegiant to a weakening franchise through its forthcoming fourth episode, expected summer 2017.

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Picking and choosing details from Roth’s complicated and somewhat controversial third novel, a trio of screenwriters new to the series deliver the first half of an artificially protracted two-part finale, which diverges not only from the source material, but also from where returning director Robert Schwentke left things in the previous film. There, as the music swelled, we saw “factionless” chieftess Evelyn (Naomi Watts) executing the dictatorial Janine (whose accomplices now face a similar fate) while the citizens swarmed en masse toward the wall, finally opened after more than 200 years.

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Except, as “Allegiant” begins, the wall still stands and Evelyn’s heavily armed guards make every effort to keep the city cut off from the outside world, where, we’d been told, “Mankind waits for you with hope.” Running vertically up the cement surface, just five characters manage to cross the barrier here: Tris ( Shailene Woodley , sporting yet another new hairstyle); her brother, Caleb (played by “The Fault in Our Stars” love interest Ansel Elgort); her actual love interest, Four ( Theo James ); Dauntless ally Christina (Zoe Kravitz); and the consistently unreliable Peter (Miles Teller).

The first movie actually began on the other side of this wall, panning across the evocative sight of a freighter abandoned in a field of tall green grass (the boat could still be seen in “Insurgent”). Now, in its place, Tris finds what looks like a Martian desert, where it rains toxic red water and the life expectancy is just two or three decades. A futuristic force field creates a second kind of wall, this one isolating the survivors of something called the “Purity War,” whose post-apocalyptic effects supposedly explain the radical change of setting. Picked up by armed soldiers, Tris and her team are brought to what remains of Chicago O’Hare Intl. Airport. (“What’s an airport?” asks Caleb, who might as well also ask, “What’s a nation?” These shut-in characters have an awful lot to learn.)

Finally, three films into the series, we get to discover why the city has been set up the way it is: At some indeterminate point in America’s future (and “Divergent’s” past), the government started fooling with human DNA, attempting to eliminate unwanted traits (such as a so-called “murder gene”) from its citizens. The effort backfired, and the new genetically modified population rose up in rebellion, reducing the United States to a radioactive wasteland and forcing the Bureau to take drastic (and totally non-scientific) measures.

In what sounds like an embarrassingly naive plan, the Bureau fenced in Chicago, filled it with genetically “damaged” citizens and imposed the faction system to ensure peace, effectively hoping that the human genome would heal itself. Meanwhile, using incredibly sophisticated surveillance technology, these outsiders tuned in to monitor every little detail, a la “The Truman Show.” If their goal was to find Divergents, it raises the question why they didn’t intervene during Janine’s genocidal reign — or now, as an unconvincing civil war brews between Evelyn and former Amity spokeswoman Johanna (Octavia Spencer).

It’s foolish to get too caught up in such questions, although asking audiences to turn off their brains basically reduces “The Divergent Series” to just another sci-fi action franchise — and not a very good one at that. With plot holes bigger than the chunks missing from its dystopian skyline (still the best visual effect in the wildly inconsistent, CG-dominated mix), “Allegiant” will seem awfully meager to those who so recently feasted on “Mad Max: Fury Road” … or “The Hunger Games,” or countless other superior examples of the genre.

What this more conventional installment does have going for it is a fresh “Tron: Legacy”-like score (from composer Joseph Trapanese) and a milder youth-skewing sensibility: The characters shoot what look like toy plastic guns, hitch rides in floating “plasma globes” and zoom about in bullfrog-shaped hovercrafts. Plus, the series never second-guesses the fact that its strongest characters are female, whether it’s role model Tris or rival leaders Evelyn and Johanna.

“Allegiant” introduces yet another potential villain, this one a superficially benevolent bureaucrat named David (Jeff Daniels, cementing the authority-figure typecasting seen since “The Newsroom”). David is obsessed with genetic purity, a concept he has incorporated into the decor of his immaculate white office, with its helix-shaped staircase and ivory-tower location, perched a hundred useless floors above ground. Apart from Tris, David doesn’t seem to care about any of the anonymous souls in Chicago — an attitude presumably shared by Schwentke, who gets some of the worst performances from extras in any film of this scale.

Although “Allegiant” does recapture the original film’s sense of constantly discovering and adapting to fresh information, audiences no longer identify with anyone in particular. For those who thrilled at the idea that she was somehow special, Tris has been pushed aside, while Four goes out on dangerous missions to “the Fringe,” visiting tent cities where David abducts children for purposes the movie never satisfyingly explains. When David’s plan goes askew, he relies on Peter to release memory gas into Chicago, resulting in laughable scenes in which the awkward aforementioned extras try to outrun clouds of orange smoke.

While it’s up to Tris to stop David from wiping everyone’s memories, that plot is virtually the opposite of the more complicated sacrifice Roth imagined for her in the book. It’s as if the filmmakers have lost interest in Tris — and who can blame them? Here we realize that by opening the box at the end of the previous film, Tris revealed herself to be not “divergent,” nor special, but effectively the same genetic state as everyone sitting in the movie theater — which is to say, purely average. Maybe the fourth film will recover what made Tris such a unique heroine, although in contrast with the divided last chapters of “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games,” there’s no epic villain for us spend the intervening year rooting against. And with no real cliffhanger to keep us interested, after “Divergent,” “Insurgent” and “Allegiant,” we can’t help feeling a little Impatient.

Reviewed at UGC George V, Paris, March 1, 2015. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 121 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release of a Summit presentation of a Red Wagon Entertainment production. Produced by Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shahbazian. Executive producers, Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, Barry Waldman, Neil Burger.
• Crew: Direted by Robert Schwentke. Screenplay, Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, based on the novel “Allegiant” by Veronica Roth. Camera (color, widescreen), Florian Ballhaus; editor, Stuart Levy; music, Joseph Trapanese; production designer, Alec Hammond; supervising art director, Alan Hook; art directors, Scott Dougan, Alex McCarroll; set decorator, Kathy Lucas; costume designer, Marlene Stewart; sound (Dolby Atmos), Peter J. Devlin; sound designer, Steve Boeddeker; supervising sound editor, Matthew Wood; re-recording mixers, Michael Minkler, Gary A. Rizzo, Beau Borders; visual effects producer, Erika McKee; visual effects, Animal Logic VFX, BUF, Rodeo FX, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Soho VFX, Crafty Apes, Lola VFX, Pixomondo, Fusion CI Studios; special effects supervisor, Eric Frazier; stunt coordinator, Chris O'Hara; associate producers, Debbi Bossi, Julia T. Enescu; assistant director, John Wildermuth; second unit director, James Madigan; second unit camera, Patrick Loungway.
• With: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels, Zoe Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Keiynan Lonsdale, Daniel Dae Kim, Maggie Q, Bill Skarsgard, Jonny Weston, Nadia Hilker, Andy Bean, Ray Stevenson, Mekhi Phifer, Joseph David-Jones, Ashley Judd.

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Why Divergent fails at everything it sets out to do

by Constance Grady

Divergent is that YA novel series and film franchise where everyone’s sorted into groups by personality. No, not Harry Potter . It’s a dystopia. No, not The Hunger Games . The less famous one. No, not The Maze Runner .

In both the books and the movies, Divergent borrows heavily, and poorly, from other YA franchises, and this is its Achilles’ heel. It clearly does not understand the tropes it borrows, and this is why the Divergent films — the third of which is in theaters now — have never performed as well as studio executives expected them to, and why the books have been largely forgotten after their early robust sales. As much as it might have had the superficial trappings of the next big thing, it never laid the groundwork it needed to to become a bona fide phenomenon.

Divergent was supposed to be the next Hunger Games. It’s not.

When Divergent emerged on the pop culture scene, it was expected to be the next Hunger Games : a YA book-to-movie franchise that’s set in a dystopian universe, features a butt-kicking female lead, and stars a promising, up-and-coming young actress.

Instead, Divergent became an also-ran. It’s certainly not an embarrassment to its studio on the level of Vampire Academy, but each new installment of the series has made less money than the one before, and now the Hollywood Reporter reports that the budget of the final movie will be slashed .

Perhaps more importantly, the Divergent franchise has nowhere near the cultural impact of its peers. No one is graffiti-ing quotes from Divergent around Ferguson , Missouri, as a political protest. No one is making millions by self-publishing their Divergent fanfic . No one hates Divergent as much as they hate Twilight, and no one loves it as much as they love The Hunger Games or Harry Potter.

Divergent fails because it doesn’t understand how to use the YA tropes it borrows

What makes Divergent such an anemic excuse for a pop culture phenomenon is that it borrows popular tropes from other YA franchises without understanding what makes them compelling. The Hunger Games became a runaway hit and is a dystopia, so Divergent is a dystopia. Harry Potter fans love talking about which Hogwarts house they’d belong to, so Divergent gives us the faction system. But Divergent fails to include the political commentary that gives a dystopia its power or the world building that gives personality sorting room to breathe.

A true dystopia exaggerates a trait in our own society, taking it to its worst possible extreme. If we don’t do something about this misogyny, we’ll become The Handmaid’s Tale ; if we don’t do something about this communism, we’ll become 1984 ; if we don’t do something about this anti-intellectualism, we’ll become Fahrenheit 451 . The Hunger Games, which contains some surprisingly sophisticated political commentary, includes among its targets income inequality, celebrity culture, and the glamorization of war.

Divergent takes place in a society where all citizens are sorted into five factions based on their dominant personality trait: The selfless are sent to Abnegation, the intellectual to Erudite, the kind to Amity, the honest to Candor, and the brave to Dauntless. Leaving aside the sheer laziness of naming two factions with adjectives and three with nouns, what trait could this faction setup possibly be mirroring in our own society? If we don’t do something about these BuzzFeed quizzes, Divergent warns us, we may find ourselves going down a dark path.

If we don’t do something about these BuzzFeed quizzes, Divergent warns us, we may find ourselves going down a dark path

Of course, Divergent didn’t invent personality sorting in YA: Harry Potter famously has the Hogwarts house system, and regardless of your feelings about the series , no one has ever claimed that Harry Potter is a failure because of it. On the contrary, fans are constantly sorting themselves and each other into Hogwarts houses; Tumblr is full of indignant posts about whether the world needs hybrid houses like Slytherclaw or Griffinpuff.

But unlike Divergent, sorting is not the single distinctive trait of the world of Harry Potter ; it is one aspect of a carefully textured, well-developed world, and that allows Harry Potter to hand-wave the parts of the system that don’t make sense. (It’s so reductive! And are Slytherins evil or just misunderstood?) By making the faction system the sole defining attribute of its world building, Divergent puts pressure on the trope that it is not able to bear.

Divergent ’s Tris is a poor copy of The Hunger Games ’ Katniss

The world of Divergent is not designed to make any kind of meaningful comment on our own society. It’s designed for character study. And in theory, the protagonist’s journey from self-sacrificing Beatrice of Abnegation to badass, pleasingly selfish Dauntless Tris to serves-no-master-but-herself Divergent Tris could be compelling. The key word here is could. Instead, Tris is paper-thin — a flat, blank excuse for a Strong Female Character. She’s clearly modeled on The Hunger Games ’ deliberately cold Katniss Everdeen, but that characterization is not earned.

There’s a telling moment early in the first book, on Tris’s first night at Dauntless headquarters, when she listens to one of her fellow Dauntless transfers cry himself to sleep. Tris knows she should want to comfort him, but instead she’s filled with loathing and disgust: “Someone who looks so strong shouldn’t act so weak. Why can’t he just keep his crying quiet like the rest of us?” It’s strikingly similar to Katniss Everdeen’s first night in the Hunger Games arena, which she spends filled with disgust for a fellow tribute who lights a fire. “You might as well be waving a flag and shouting, ‘Come and get me!’” Katniss fumes. Before long, she’s contemplating murder: “Obviously this person’s a hazard. Stupid people are dangerous. And this one probably doesn’t have much in the way of weapons, while I’ve got this excellent knife.”

So what makes Katniss’s murderous rage work while Tris’s silent hatred falls flat? The Hunger Games grounds Katniss’s disgust in everything we know about her: She has a well-established survival instinct, honed through years of subsistence living. We hear her repeated admonitions to herself that emotion is a weakness she cannot afford, and we recognize that her life is literally on the line. All this groundwork makes Katniss’s anger understandable, even endearing.

Divergent is a character study about a blank and boring character

In contrast, Tris’s anger depends on one thing: the fact that she resents being raised to put others’ needs before her own. Now that she has left Abnegation for Dauntless, she is ready to be brave and selfish and put herself first. And her needs, apparently, include indulging a deep and profound hatred for weakness.

Tris’s hatred for weakness is what animates her through the first book, convincing her that it is a good idea to demonstrate her own strength by repeatedly jumping onto and off of high-speed trains and trying to take down the corrupt government. It is her single distinctive character trait: She is not clever, she is not kind, she is not a survivor, she is not a hero, she is not manipulative, she is not a leader, she is not interesting. She just hates weakness.

That is not enough to build a compelling character out of — but it’s all Divergent has. And because Divergent is designed primarily as a vehicle for character study, the entire franchise feels empty.

Here’s what we’re left with: a dystopia that has no political statement to make; a flat world built around a single, flimsy plot device that can’t support it; and a character study of a dull and unlikable one-note character. It’s Harry Potter without the detailed world building, The Hunger Games without the social commentary or the charismatic lead character. Divergent didn’t become The Hunger Games because, in the end, it doesn’t understand what makes The Hunger Games compelling. It can only manage incoherent and superficial similarities.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that there are four factions in the Divergent world. There are five.

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'Divergent' review

It's hard to stand out when you're exactly the same.

By Bryan Bishop on March 21, 2014 10:05 am 93 Comments

Young adult novels, and the movies they inspire, have all but taken over the notion of the futuristic sci-fi dystopia. Once the domain of Brazil and Blade Runner , the landscape has instead become home to sagas that use the background of an oppressive future to explore universal themes like the importance of individuality — with a love triangle or two thrown in for good measure. When the pieces come together just right, the result can be The Hunger Games , a series that reaches beyond younger audiences, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process.

The latest stab at building a new YA film franchise is Divergent , based on Veronica Roth’s best-selling novel. At first glance the film checks all the right boxes, but despite some impressive visual world building and a strong lead performance it’s never able to find the groove it’s so clearly looking for.

In a vaguely defined future Chicago, society has broken itself down into five distinct factions based on personality types. When children turn 16, they take an aptitude test that tells them who they should be, and then in a formal ceremony they stand before an auditorium of friends and family and choose who they want to be. Beatrice (Shailene Woodley) is from Abnegation, a quiet, charity-minded sect, but when she takes her test, the results say she doesn’t fit into any of the ready-made categories. She’s what’s known as "divergent," and as you might expect, anybody that doesn’t slot into place is seen as an existential threat to society itself.

Renaming herself Tris, she sides with Dauntless — the group of warriors that protect Chicago. Through a series of tests and training she learns to embrace the fiercer aspects of her personality, all the while keeping her test results under cover. One of the factions has been quietly laying the groundwork for revolution, however, and Tris soon learns that the only way to save her family and the people of Chicago will be to reveal that she is divergent after all.

As a metaphor it’s about as subtle as an earthquake, but it works largely thanks to Woodley’s performance. The actress has been compared to Jennifer Lawrence for obvious reasons, and she’s able to pull off a similar mix of movie-star charisma and vulnerability — but Woodley’s Tris feels more like a real flesh-and-blood teenager than Katniss Everdeen ever has. Woodley gracefully navigates Tris’ transformation from supplicant to soldier, but problems arise in the plot-heavy second half of the film. While she remains the focal point, Tris is dramatically sidelined as nearly every major plot twist comes courtesy of coincidence or happy accidents. Other characters rush to tell her the latest plot detail; somebody appears from nowhere to save her in an action sequence; Tris discovers she can zip through a hallucinatory mental test just because it’s in her divergent nature. For a story that’s ostensibly about taking ownership of one’s own destiny, it’s just bizarre for a character to not have to try that hard to reach many of her goals.

The rest of the cast are given similarly difficult challenges — even Kate Winslet seems disengaged — though both Zoë Kravitz ( X-Men: First Class ) and Jai Courtney ( A Good Day To Die Hard ) are able to leave an impression as Dauntless team members. As Tris’ handler Four, Theo James serves as a passable foil for Woodley, but the movie’s awkward attempts at romance play more like parody for those that aren’t already invested in the relationship from the novel.

It’s the film’s biggest shortcoming: the inescapable sense that it was designed for lovers of the books rather than fresh audiences. Numerous scenes feel like they could be condensed or cut from the nearly two-and-a-half hour running time. Director Neil Burger ( The Illusionist ) crafts a beautiful world of sweeping futuristic buildings, but there’s no real sense of how this alternate world came to be. Class resentment is a major component of the film’s rising stakes, but as a plot device it seemingly pops up out of nowhere just as it’s needed. Granted, some of those are weaknesses in Roth’s novel, but an adaptation provides an opportunity to improve upon problems, not just repeat them.

With a passionate fan base in place, none of that will likely hurt Divergent at first, and with sequels already slated for 2015 and 2016 it seems we’ll be seeing more of Roth’s world. Of course, that was also the plan with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones , a YA adaptation that had its sequel delayed after it failed to perform at the box office. Divergent sits in a better position, however, with a compelling hero securely in place and mistakes that can be fixed the next time around — should the filmmakers actually decide to fix them.

Divergent is now playing. Photos courtesy of Summit Entertainment.

Watch CBS News

"Divergent" reviews: Critics say film isn't as good as the book

By Ken Lombardi

March 20, 2014 / 12:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Watch out "Hunger Games."

A new film about a teen girl trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world is coming to the big screen.

Theo James plays Tobias "Four" Eaton, a love interest for Tris.

• "Divergent" stars on Shailene Woodley and why this isn't "The Hunger Games"

Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller , Ashley Judd, Mekhi Phifer, Jai Courtney, Maggie Q and Kate Winslet also star.

The film comes from Lionsgate, the same studio behind the highly successful "Hunger Games" franchise.

"Divergent," however, has not been garnering the same critical acclaim that was bestowed upon the "Games" films when they were first released.

Critics have taken "Divergent" to task for its script written by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor, and its direction by Neil Burger ("The Prestige"). The movie has only received a 26 percent rating on movie review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes .

If the reviews are to be believed, the performances from Woodley and James are this film's only saving graces:

Andrew Barker, Variety : "'Divergent's' uncertain sense of setting, bloated plot, drab visual style and solid yet underwhelming lead turns from Shailene Woodley and Theo James don't necessarily make the best case for series newcomers."

Lou Leminick, New York Post : "'Divergent' is a clumsy, humorless and shamelessly derivative sci-fi thriller set in a generically dystopian future."

Mike Ryan, TIME : "It's impossible to ignore the overwhelming sense that we've seen all this before, only with better execution."

Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter : "Woodley, a sensitive performer, is hamstrung by the screenplay but lends her role relatability and a convincing athleticism. Burger and [cinematographer Alwin] Kuchler's unfortunate preference for mascara-ad close-ups, however, detracts from the character's grit."

Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times : "Woodley has a scratchy little voice and a way of clamping her eyes on her scene partners as if they might catch fire if she looked away; she also has that rare quality of utter likability, and of making preposterous situations seem believable simply because she's there. Without her, 'Divergent' would be a grim slog indeed."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune : "James is the best thing in 'Divergent.' Imagine the pain and suffering this film might've inflicted with Taylor Lautner of 'Twilight' in the male-lust-object role, and you especially appreciate James' wry, offhanded charisma."

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly : "I'm glad to see the launch of a dystopian franchise in which individuality, as embodied by Shailene Woodley, looks like it could mean something beyond hiply propping up the status quo."

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times : "Yea for 'Divergent,' a dumb movie that I hope makes major bank if only as a reminder of the obvious: Women can drive big and little movies, including the pricey franchises that fire up the box office and the culture."

"Divergent" opens in theaters on Friday.

Ken Lombardi is an entertainment reporter for CBS News. He has interviewed over 300 celebrities, including Clint Eastwood, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks.

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Review: ‘Divergent’ Starring Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller & More

Todd gilchrist.

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The cornerstone of young adult fiction is its exploration of personal, emotional issues through the filter of ridiculously high stakes, not the least of which because teenagers equate their feelings with the center of the universe. But when film adaptations of that material build real universes to physically embody those issues, the results are decidedly mixed, exemplified by Neil Burger ’s realization of “ Divergent .”

Using Veronica Roth ’s dystopian future as the foundation for a story of self-actualization, Burger succeeds in aping the cool proficiency of its obvious cinematic predecessor, “ The Hunger Games ,” unfortunately without elevating Roth’s concept to more than an effective if slightly overwrought academic exercise.

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Shailene Woodley (“ The Spectacular Now ”) plays Tris, a young woman raised in a futuristic society where its citizens are divided into five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless. Tested for her aptitude in each, her results come back inconclusive—“divergent,” a forbidden designation since it violates the one-quality-per-person system installed by the government. But when she’s allowed to choose which faction she wants to join, she picks Dauntless, and soon finds herself being trained by Four ( Theo James ) to defend society from invisible threats that lurk beyond the city walls.

Struggling to keep pace physically but outclassing her fellow trainees in strategy and planning, Tris is forced to hide her gifts in order not to attract the attention of government leaders, like Jeanine Matthews ( Kate Winslet ), and Erudite, to whom divergents are seen as a threat. But when Erudite stages a coup to overthrow Abnegation’s rule using Dauntless’ ranks as enforcers, Tris finds herself not only in a fight for her life, but all of society as civil war erupts between factions.

At almost 140 minutes, there’s no better way to describe “Divergent” than as a bit of a slog. Where at the very least “The Hunger Games” (and its sequel) shuffled quickly from macro to micro with its world building, Burger’s film takes its time introducing the idea of factions, and devotes enormous attention to Tris’ identity crisis before audiences get any real sense of the larger societal issues that will be explored.

But notwithstanding the ridiculousness of the notion that a society would ever consider this system an effective way of addressing its problems, needless to say there’s something provocative about the concept of a world that seems to have you figured out even before you do. In that regard, this is bullseye teen material, not just in terms of the practical challenges of choosing a college and a major, but the notion that every choice you make is not just defining, but evaluated by others, whether it’s how you dress or behave, what friends you pick, or what your appetites are.

That said, the way the movie defines the factions is thoughtful but indisputably silly. Members of Dauntless, for example, seem to run everywhere they go, and they travel by constantly running trains, which they jump on and off to board and disembark. Needless to say, the factions are all simplistically rendered, because they’re simplistically conceived, and while those primary colors provide the story with clear conflicts, they reduce the complexity of those conflicts, as if it’s remotely possible to simply focus on one personality characteristic, or switch off others, once a largely arbitrary decision has been made which is most important to each individual.

Thankfully, Woodley makes for more than uncertain enough of a hero to add detail and meaning to the implosion of this world. Not unlike “The Hunger Games” actress Jennifer Lawrence , there’s little artifice to her performance, and the mundane honesty of her reactions create a believability that the world would otherwise lack. As Four, meanwhile, James manages the considerable accomplishment of seeming like a real grown-up man rather than a teenage girl’s image of a dreamy boy, and he makes the character’s transformation from hardass to collaborator seem natural, if inevitable. Meanwhile, Winslet conveys one-dimensional menace in a way that is probably more attributable to the script than her skill as an actress.

But ultimately, the elasticity of the story—its sometimes lackadaisical, others aggressive pacing—is what may challenge audiences to embrace this in the way it has “The Hunger Games” even more than the silliness of its universe. Because there’s some genuinely great ideas in the film, and some terrific character work, but it’s given such uneven attention, alternately languished upon and glossed over, that the portrait Burger creates feels complete without, well, making us feel a whole lot else.

Ultimately, Burger’s film is, to its credit, probably second-best among the YA adaptations that Hollywood has mounted since “ Twilight ” put the subgenre on the map. But with a second installment already going into production, one hopes that the series’ world-building is done and its world-living can begin. Because the quality that “Divergent” still lacks is the broader emotional resonance that makes it distinctive—which is why, for the time being, it’s not yet being defined by anything other than what it isn’t. [B-]

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The Divergent Series: Allegiant Parent Guide

The high-tech eye candy is cool but it doesn't make up for the lack of plot advancement induced by turning three books into four movies. the themes and violence may be frightening for younger viewers..

Based on the third book in the Divergent series, Beatrice "Tris" Prior (Shailene Woodley) and Tobias "Four" Eaton (Theo James) explore the world on the other side of the fence and uncover a mysterious agency called the Bureau of Genetic Welfare .

Release date March 18, 2016

Run Time: 120 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

If you’re like me, it seems there are far too many dystopian book and film franchises aimed at adolescents. Sitting through yet another chapter of the Divergent Series , I yearn for a happy moment, a productive breakthrough or even a little patch of green grass. Fortunately this third instalment in the movie series, Allegiant , does offer the latter, but it definitely is little.

Our determined gang of Divergents continue their fight to fix Chicago, a dystopian mess of demolished buildings overrun by warring factions. (Make sure you take a look at the previous two movies or novels to catch up on the backstory.) They received a message in the previous episode that claimed the answers to their problems lay on the other side of the wall that surrounds their city. Now leader Tris (Shailene Woodley), along with her boyfriend and right-hand beefcake Four (Theo James), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), the difficult-to-trust Peter (Miles Teller) and hard-core adventurer Christina (Zoe Kravitz) make a run for the barrier. In hot pursuit are soldiers following the commands of Evelyn (Naomi Watts) the crumbling metropolis’s new, self-appointed leader.

The Divergents proved to be the cream of the crop and, no surprise, Tris is the creamiest. Her status as the only human to evolve from impure to pure, gets her a pass to ride the glass elevator to the penthouse suite where she meets David (Jeff Daniels), the guy who’s in charge of the experiment. Compared to the military style barracks everyone else is housed in, David’s luxurious living quarters are a not-so-subtle clue he’s not as nice as he first appears.

Torn apart by issues of trust and dealing with mounting aggression from earlier confrontations, the characters in Allegiant stumble toward an awkward mid-novel intermission (yet another final book stretched into two movies— Ascendant is scheduled for release in June 2017). The battling factions are core to the story, which features weapons use, stabbings and hand-to-hand combat with blood effects, although the visuals stop short of becoming explicit. However the themes and subtext may be more frightening for young audiences. Intense sequences depict mass extermination of a populace and the forced separation of parents and children. In the latter a father is shot after refusing to surrender custody of his child and others are seen being herded under gunfire. An earlier scene depicts an execution – we see the gun held to the convicted character’s head but the view cuts away as the shot is fired. Fortunately, the script contains only a smattering of mild profanities.

Trying to turn three books into four movies is likely the biggest reason why this instalment feels so tedious. Most of the screen time depicts characters learning to pilot fabulous flying machines, mastering the use of mini-drones for fighting purposes or keeping a remote eye on the happenings in Chicago through an array of virtual reality cameras that would give George Orwell nightmares. All the high tech eye candy is cool, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of plot advancement.

Finally, parents would do well to consider the negative outlook this series projects to its intended young audience. The future is bleak. People over 40 aren’t to be trusted. Governments are inept. Even technology takes a beating in this film as virtually every modern invention (some of which are impressive considering they must have been cooked up out of what was left in the rubble) is utilized for the purpose of invading privacy or killing. Perhaps the only take away after watching Allegiant is a reminder to teens about the importance of wisely exercising one’s civic responsibilities.

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Rod Gustafson

The divergent series: allegiant rating & content info.

Why is The Divergent Series: Allegiant rated PG-13? The Divergent Series: Allegiant is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense violence and action, thematic elements, and some partial nudity.

Violence: Violent depictions are pervasive in this movie, which features detailed hand-to-hand combat, gunfights and knife use. Also depicted are explosions, electrical shock, vehicle crashes and kidnapping. Characters are injured and killed (some blood is shown) during these confrontations. Characters are executed—a gun is held to their head, the sound of a shot is heard, and their body is shown falling to the floor. Injections and poisonous gas are used to gain power over enemies. Mobs are incited to violence. Corpses are shown. Children are kidnapped and their parents are sometimes killed. Characters mock and belittle others. Characters lie and betray the trust of others.

Sexual Content: Characters embrace and kiss each other. A woman removes her clothing to shower: She is seen naked from the neck and shoulders up, as well as from the back in silhouette.

Language: The script includes infrequent uses of mild profanity and scatological slang.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters are subjected to poisonous gas and truth serum injections.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Divergent Series: Allegiant Parents' Guide

The society depicted in the movie uses “factions” to categorize people. What are the pros and cons of emphasizing the differences between members of a community? What happens to the residents of Chicago when those lines are pulled down?Why do some of the leaders want to create a new, but similar system? Can you see example of labeling in the society in which you live? Do you think these titles are helpful or hurtful?

Tris wants to see what is beyond the fence—even though there is no guarantee she will find anything better out there. Why do “far away pastures” usually seem greener? Why is curiosity such an irresistible temptation? What are the consequences for her and her friends for exploring that forbidden territory? Is the knowledge they gain worth the price they pay? Why or why not?

The most recent home video release of The Divergent Series: Allegiant movie is July 12, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: The Divergent Series: Allegiant Release Date: 12 July 2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant releases to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy) with the following special features: - Audio Commentary with Producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher - Six Featurettes

Related home video titles:

This movie is the sequel to Divergent and The Divergent Series: Insurgent . It will be followed up by The Divergent Series: Ascendant (formerly called The Divergent Series: Allegiant- Part 2).

Related news about The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Change of Venue for The Divergent Series: Ascendant

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This is a good movie for a mature audience! The plot definitely keep you on your toes and wanting to know what will happen next.It has lots of fighting and have a couple deaths including the main characters parents. There are many injuries. Therefore, it shows blood which I don’t recommend younger kids watching. You might want to be aware that one of the characters commits sucide. Also, there are many bad words that you should be aware of.

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Divergent wasn’t made for me, a married father of two whose societal role – or “faction,” to borrow a relevant term – was established years ago. I acknowledged that, even as I enjoyed the bulk of Neil Burger ’s franchise-launching adaptation of author Veronica Roth’s young-adult novel. It’s a laudable, confident start to a potentially exciting series – the fate of which now rests in your hands.

On its surface, Divergent looks like post-apocalyptic, science-fiction escapism. Roth’s story exists in a distant yet recognizable future, where survivors of an unseen war have walled themselves away from an unseen threat in the bombed out city of Chicago… or, what’s left of it. Desperate to survive and eager to restore some sense of order, society now divides individuals into groupings known as factions. Honest truth-talkers are assigned to Candor. Intelligent folk land in Erudite. The bravest of the brave defend the city as members of Dauntless. Since we don’t have a Sorting Hat, teens take a “test” that tells them which faction they’re destined to join. The choice, however, ultimately rests with them.

Beatrice “Tris” Prior ( Shailene Woodley ) and her family belong to Abnegation, the selfless members of this balanced society. During her test, however, Tris is told by the mysterious Maggie Q that the vital results are “inconclusive” and she is “divergent,” meaning she doesn’t fit comfortably in any one faction. Most might consider that a compliment! In Divergent , that means you are a threat to the powers that be. (Personified here by Oscar-winner Kate Winslet. Because if Donald Sutherland can get some of that Hunger Games money, dammit, then Winslet ain’t too proud to juggle a handful of Divergent scenes!)

Strip away all of the sci-fi, however, and Divergent is just a formulaic but emotionally anchored coming-of-age movie about an impressionable young girl trying to find the right cool clique. My generation had The Breakfast Club , where you know that John Bender would be Dauntless and Molly Ringwald was a total Erudite. These days, everything needs to take place in a desolate wasteland, where attention-starved loners must overcome lethal obstacles to not only discover their identities, but also overthrow a corrupt government and save the world. Forget about having a leisurely day off, Ferris, there’s a vicious army led by a sorcerer who has come back from the dead and wants to drink your blood!

No wonder kids are so stressed out these days.

Unfairly or not, Divergent is being straddled with the same label that has accompanied – and will continue to accompany – every YA feature in a post- Twilight world. Is it the next Hunger Games ? Or will it be the latest The Host , Beautiful Creatures , Mortal Instruments , and on and on.

Divergent is better than those films, yet not quite on par with either Hunger Games movies. It benefits from reaching theaters later, though, because it learns a few lessons from the YA efforts that failed before it. Burger, for the most part, keeps his emphasis on character development… even as his grounded characters fight to establish themselves in an unusual world. Woodley is an expressive young actress whose relatable features invite us on Tris’ personal journey. We feel her pain as she endures physical hardships while training to be accepted by the thugs in Dauntless. Her chemistry with the handsome Four ( Theo James ) simmers beneath the story but doesn’t overwhelm the mythology – as was the case in the Twilight films, where Bella and Edwards became the whole reason those movies existed. There’s a joyous scene where Tris, after winning a tough game of capture the flag, takes a zipline ride through Chicago’s broken skyscrapers, and because Burger took his time establishing this girl and her world, we’re just as exhilarated as she is by her impossible accomplishments.

It can’t last, unfortunately, and if you know Roth’s book, you know that a gear-shift will attempt to increase the pace of Divergent , to the detriment of the film. Burger’s last act is a silly shoot-em-up of a finale, where seemingly major plot points are barked out in the middle of fire fights. This all might make sense to those who’ve read the book. On screen, these scenes felt like they were from a different, less interesting sci-fi movie and stapled onto the impressive work Burger did during the first two hours. It’s a shame.

That being said, Divergent remains a worthy introduction to a familiar yet still extraordinary universe that hedges its risks to reach a teenage demographic but still teases more than enough potential. It’s the first YA adaptation I’ve seen in a while that genuinely had me excited for the continuation of the story.

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.

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