First look: Divergent

First look: Divergent

There have been several young-adult (YA) movies that were called the next Twilight.

This one, however, is being labelled the next Hunger Games.

How similar is Divergent to The Hunger Games? Let us count the ways.

Both are based on best-selling YA novels and are part of a trilogy.

Both are set in the dystopian future.

Both feature young, gutsy female protagonists who are charged with saving the world.

Both storylines revolve around a divided community whose members live in factions.

The list is endless. And we haven't even gone into the love triangles yet.

If you don't already know, Divergent is adapted from Veronica Roth's popular series of books where the citizens of Chicago live in a society that's divided into five factions categorised by human virtues: Abnegation (the selfless), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (the honest), Amity (the peaceful) and Dauntless (the brave).

Once they turn 16, teenagers take a test to see where their natural aptitudes lie and are placed in the appropriate category.

Shailene Woodley plays Beatrice "Tris" Prior, a "divergent", someone who possesses multi-personality traits that make her suitable for more than one faction.

Tris leaves her Abnegation family for Dauntless, where she meets Four (Theo James), her mentor and subsequent love interest. Much of this movie, directed by Neil Burger (Limitless), is dedicated to Tris and her fellow initiates' training sessions - cue internal rivalry - which culminate in a potential coup that could threaten the seemingly perfect society.

Woodley, 21, is seeing a similar career trajectory to The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, from being a relatively unknown indie starlet to carrying a high-profile movie.

In fact, she sought Lawrence out before signing on to Divergent.

"She gave me really beautiful advice," Woodley told Vanity Fair. "She said it will be the best thing that ever happened. But don't be an idiot, do a sex tape, or do drugs."


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