Judging by some of the reviews, the film is somewhat of an IQ test. Not for the spoon-fed, the film (which isn't technically a sci-fi) looks at a future which turns out to be increasingly like our present. Everybody is watched, logged, owned by the state. The three storylines seem to cover what it's like to be trapped by the state (Jamie Draven), what you can do to escape the state (Toby Hemingway) and how the state copes with the threat of a parallel, decentralised structure (Linus Roache/Alison Doody). Yes, it may take a couple of viewings to fully get the message, but as a study in what the future could look like unless we get a grip of it both financially and in regard to surveillance, it is at least intelligent take on our relationship to our 'democratic' world, even if the message is sometimes given priority to the characters. In real life, being merely a pawn is something to avoid. Those more used to fantastical storylines such as accountants morphing instantaneously into martial arts experts, may not take kindly to characters who are almost powerless to the will of the state.
Review of Division 19
