I was lucky to catch an early cut of this film at Fantasporto Film Festival 2017 (Critics' Award winner); more a grungy future dystopia than pure fantasy, the film centers around the state's monetization of the penal system while the world around it collapses. A moralistic tale that asks you to work out the morality; opposed to the so too often spoon feeding that we see. This can leave you trying to work out what is going on at times but the film itself is beautiful to look at. Shot in Detroit, London and New York the cities have been blended together like the 1929 film Man with a Movie Camera to create a familiar but non-specific backdrop. Division 19 is an independently produced film but feels like a big budget feature.
The story revolves around two brothers, Hardin Jones (Jamie Draven) who languishes in jail while the state has turned his life into a Trumanesque TV show, and younger brother Nash Jones (Will Rothhaar), leader of a band of hacker revolutionaries who plan to bring down the State. The ensuing battle sees the aging State pitted against a brash, youthful movement that wont take any more.
The story revolves around two brothers, Hardin Jones (Jamie Draven) who languishes in jail while the state has turned his life into a Trumanesque TV show, and younger brother Nash Jones (Will Rothhaar), leader of a band of hacker revolutionaries who plan to bring down the State. The ensuing battle sees the aging State pitted against a brash, youthful movement that wont take any more.