Division, a new film written by up and coming screenwriter Jaime Andrews, explores the complex and divisive U.S. political landscape amidst the Covid-19 shutdown and the recent Presidential Election.
Division Movie Review
Division follows Andi (deftly played by Andrews), a struggling “z-list actress” who has moved with her fiancé Zach (Curt Bonnem) from Los Angeles to Atlanta. During the shutdown, he spends all of his time narrating audiobooks in their basement studio and avoiding Andi. The couple’s relationship seems strained, and Andi starts a public vlog to combat her isolation.
One of her vlog followers is Mason, (Joshua Payne) a long-time fan from Andi’s popular television show, who requests a video chat with Andi. Despite her initial reluctance to connect too intimately with a fan, Andi eventually agrees and discovers an unexpected connection with Mason. However, their political beliefs are polar opposites. For example, Andi is a liberal who is cautious about Covid, while Mason is a Trump supporter who denies its existence.
What follows is a nuanced exploration of how their relationship is influenced by their differing beliefs. The divide is there, and while they seem willing to be able to get past their differences at first, it gets more and more complicated. Plus, her fiancé begins to show more affection just as Mason grows more upset about their differing beliefs.
In the supporting cast, we see a lot of different positions on the political spectrum. We have Mason’s ailing mother (Rebecca Koon), questioning whether she should vote for Trump again because he’s deceptive and she has come to depend on Obamacare. Mason’s hot headed friend Mark (David Lee Garver) is a member of what seems to be a violent right wing group. Plus we also Andi’s neighbor Aya (Corrye Harden) that doesn’t believe her vote matters because “they’re all the same.”
Andrews adds layers of thoughtfulness and care to each character, making them more than just caricatures of political ideologies. It’s not just Republican versus Democrat, good guy versus bad guy. The cast brings a lot of depth and likability to their roles. It’s so easy now to dehumanize the other side of aisle and I feel like viewers will find each character relatable.
Director Jason Winn keeps the film moving to its ultimately tragic end. The pace was brisk and didn’t feel predictable. It also had a very intimate and isolated feel as most of the scenes were only two people. The few three person scenes were the ones that had the most intensity and danger. That being said, it still had enough light hearted moments to keep it balanced.
Overall Thoughts
Personally I’m a fan of Covid stories. I remember struggling to watch tv and movies during the shutdown, because it didn’t reflect our current reality. So movies like Division that depict some of the issues that arose during that time really scratch that itch.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this timely indie drama about widening ideological divides and would recommend it to fans of relationship and political dramas alike. Division is available on Prime, iTunes, Google Play, Dish, Vudu, Vū, Dish, DirectTV, InDemand and Xbox.
