Divine Children feels a bit like being dropped into a story having missed key exposition, and knowing that we have to leave before it ends. Narratively the viewer isn't given much to work with regarding this post-war wasteland where the teenage characters are, or any context for their situation. I read the film was inspired by the experiences of those children who have had to grow up in war-torn countries, surrounded by violence and threat, while still being children trying to find their ways into adulthood - this makes a lot of sense because in this film it is more the feelings/actions in the moment of the characters that carry it along.
It helps to know this going in though, because on my first viewing I didn't really go with it as I was distracted by not knowing the background, to not having a narrative thread to follow, and by the feeling that I was being sold a trailer for what story could be told (usually proof of concept shorts are CGI based, but this one still feels like that was its goal). On second viewing though, I had read the director's interview on it, and also knew that what I had been looking for wasn't there. This allowed me to understand and follow what it was doing - which was showing teens growing up without direct or adequate adult raising, living with death and violence, and still being teenagers. We see the social power structures, the relationships, the danger-seeking, the enjoyment of pop music, the first flush of romance, all of these things - but in the context of a very different world that most of us will have known the same thing.
There may be commentary on Trump's America in there, since the film is set there - I didn't take it that way, I just took it to be set in the country where the film was made, and with language, characters, and location that would make it more accessible for the majority of who will be watching this. Worth a look but it does help to know this is about an experience for the characters much more than being a story for the viewer.
It helps to know this going in though, because on my first viewing I didn't really go with it as I was distracted by not knowing the background, to not having a narrative thread to follow, and by the feeling that I was being sold a trailer for what story could be told (usually proof of concept shorts are CGI based, but this one still feels like that was its goal). On second viewing though, I had read the director's interview on it, and also knew that what I had been looking for wasn't there. This allowed me to understand and follow what it was doing - which was showing teens growing up without direct or adequate adult raising, living with death and violence, and still being teenagers. We see the social power structures, the relationships, the danger-seeking, the enjoyment of pop music, the first flush of romance, all of these things - but in the context of a very different world that most of us will have known the same thing.
There may be commentary on Trump's America in there, since the film is set there - I didn't take it that way, I just took it to be set in the country where the film was made, and with language, characters, and location that would make it more accessible for the majority of who will be watching this. Worth a look but it does help to know this is about an experience for the characters much more than being a story for the viewer.
