I don't know about you, but I can't think of really anything worse than immortality. Folks in my generation are supposed to live until the age of 100 and while eternal life is out of the question, triple digits seems bad enough. Because, although you might still be here, you probably won't still be here.
My suspicions are confirmed in Divinity, the second and latest feature from writer/director Eddie Alcazar. It's haunting body horror and a lo-fi sci-fi allegory warning against the dangers of greed - the greed of eternal life.
Many years ago, Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula) dedicated his life's work to finding the secret to immortality, putting together the initial recipe for a serum called Divinity. Now, his son Jaxxon (Stephen Dorff) has continued his father's work, manufacturing and peddling the titular drug. He promises eternal youth, which is, of course, not exactly as nice as it may seem.
His product attracts a couple of space aliens (Jason Genao, Moises Arias - yes, that Moises Arias) who want to see what he's up to - so they visit the wealthy recluse at his mansion. He's too busy with former adult film actress Emily Willis to notice them breach his home security and he's quickly gagged and tied to a chair so they can explore his creation.
In the chair, they hook him up to an IV drip of Divinity. It's supposed to be taken in small doses and never straight like this. If you take just the right amount, you become a sculpted Greek god - there are a handful of scenes featuring four-time Mr. Universe Mike O'Hearn (veteran of both the original and rebooted American Gladiators and the strikingly similar Battle Dome - anyone else remember Battle Dome?), who just struts his stuff looking chiseled. Too much of the stuff, however, makes those muscles swell elephantiasis-style. Jaxxon is on a constant drip...
It seems like a ticking time bomb movie, but it's actually very relaxed. Jaxxon is left to expire while the brother aliens check out his place, call a prostitute, and hang out. The film spends time switching dimensions to the world of Bella Thorne and her leotard-clad alien followers.
It's exactly as weird as it sounds, but it's also mesmerizing. It's trippy. It's erotic. It's downright bizarre. Cinematography by Danny Hiele is striking black and white, mysterious and moody. Because it's about mood and vibe. In fact, when developments do occur with Jaxxon, it's almost as though Alcazar says, "Here's some plot, for those of you who feel as though you must have plot," a la Thornton Wilder.
The original score by DJ Muggs and Dean Hurley follows the same lead, with blips and bloops giving way to extending phrases, setting the scene. It's all largely relaxed, with the only-outward camp coming from Dorff's roid rage-esque performance that has nowhere to go but explosion.
When that plot does advance, it's because folks have come to Jaxxon's house for a birthday party. Irony is thick in the air as beautiful folks (and presumably customers) attend the birthday party of an immortal man who's about to die. That is, of course, because the film is a horror movie. It's a warning against greed, one of our seven deadly sins. It's lonely at the top. It's without purpose. And, in this case, it's eternal. Until it isn't.
The film's Instagram (@divinitythefilm) calls the film "mind shattering" and that it is. Alcazar clearly has an interesting imagination and with support from producer Steven Soderbergh, the vision is clear and haunting even if the budget isn't similarly out-of-this-world. Devotees of David Lynch or Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin will find what they like in this film, one that opens in limited theaters today before expanding.