The Divergent Series: Allegiant (simply known as Allegiant) is a 2016 American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Robert Schwentke with a screenplay by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Noah Oppenheim and the third and final installment in The Divergent Series. It was set to be the first of two cinematic parts based on the novel Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. It is the sequel to Insurgent and was intended to be followed by the concluding entry, Ascendant.
The film stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jeff Daniels, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Zoë Kravitz, Maggie Q, Ray Stevenson, Bill Skarsgård, Octavia Spencer, and Naomi Watts. Set in a post-apocalyptic and dystopian Chicago, the story follows Tris Prior, her boyfriend Four Eaton, and their small group of friends escaping over the wall that has enclosed the city. Once outside, however, they discover new truths that will shift their alliances and introduce new threats. The film was initially titled The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1, however, in September 2015, Part 1 was renamed Allegiant and Part 2 as Ascendant. Principal photography primarily took place in Atlanta, Georgia from May 2015 until August that same year.
Allegiant was released on March 18, 2016, in theaters and IMAX and received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the lack of originality, character development, and the decision to split the film into two parts. The film was a box office bomb, grossing just $179 million worldwide against its estimated budget of $110–142 million, becoming the lowest-grossing film in The Divergent Series. Following budget cuts, a theatrical release for Ascendant was dropped in favor of reconfiguring the project as a television film for Starz that would be followed by a spinoff series. Both projects were later cancelled, effectively ending the franchise.
Plot
After Evelyn forbids any citizen from leaving Chicago, she announces that all Erudite members involved in the previous coup attempt are to be put on trial and executed if they are found guilty. Tris and Four rescue Caleb from execution and try to escape over the wall, along with Tori, Peter, and Christina. The group is ambushed by Edgar, who kills Tori, but the group escapes and pass the wall. However, it is intercepted by soldiers with advanced weaponry who take the group to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a city of advanced technology that is hidden behind a cloaking shield. After undergoing decontamination, they learn that years ago, the UN believed that society’s problems were caused by “damaged genes”. In an attempt to create a better society, it began to alter people’s genes, which eventually led to the Purity Wars and the destruction of most of the planet. To try to reverse the destruction, a series of “experiments” was set up in an attempt to repair the mistake, which established isolated cities across the remains of the world.
Tris and Four are tested by Matthew and Nita to verify and to study their Divergence. Tris is shown to be truly Divergent and the first Chicago Divergent to be 100% genetically pure, but Four’s genetic structure indicates that his genes still carry damage. Caleb and Peter are assigned to surveillance teams that remotely monitor Chicago, and Christine and Four are assigned to the military. Matthew then brings Tris to the leader of the Bureau, David, who gives Tris a device that allows her to view her foster mother’s memories. She sees that her mother had been rescued from the wastelands as a child before she volunteered to join the Chicago experiment out of dedication to the project. In return for his help in restoring peace to Chicago in which David claims only the council to have the power to intervene, Tris agrees to help David continue the experiment.
Meanwhile, Four and Christina train with Nita. They join the military on a rescue mission to a nearby wasteland village, but Four mistrusts the Bureau’s intentions after he realizes that they are simply kidnapping children and wiping their memories with amnesia gas. Four also attempts to warn Tris of the Bureau’s intentions, but they are interrupted by a video call from David. Caleb warns Four of a rapidly-escalating conflict back in Chicago between Johanna’s group of Allegiants and Evelyn’s Factionless. Four appeals to Tris for her to return to Chicago with him to end the bloodshed. However, she decides to go with David, who agrees to reinsert Four into Chicago under the escort of Matthew and some Bureau soldiers. Once in the air, Matthew quietly reveals to Four that the flight is a trap, and he is meant to be killed. A skirmish breaks out, and Four defeats all of the soldiers, but the transport crashes as a result. Matthew gives Four a device to allow passage through the cloaking shield, and Four proceeds to Chicago. Matthew remains behind to be rescued by the Bureau and warn Tris.
Meanwhile, Tris disagrees with the council’s objectives and criticizes their refusal to stop the violence in Chicago. The council responds that David has full power to intervene whenever he desires, revealing his lies. During the return flight to the Bureau, Tris ends her partnership. Upon her return, she gathers Caleb and Christina in David’s hovercar to return to Chicago. Nita helps them escape and reveals that David’s rule is not popular with everyone in the Bureau. Four is captured by the factionless and confronts Evelyn to end the violence. Tris, Caleb, and Christina arrive to find the city tearing itself apart at the opening stage of a full assault by the Allegiant. Back at the Bureau, David makes a deal with Peter in exchange for Peter’s promotion and inserts him into Chicago to convince Evelyn to deploy a hidden Bureau stockpile of amnesia gas to wipe the memories of the attackers and to force a peace in her favor to which she agrees; Peter takes her to a hidden vault.
After rescuing Four, Tris and Christina fight through the Factionless and arrive at the vault. At the vault door, Four convinces Evelyn to stop the gas attack, as he would not remember her if she carries it out. She capitulates and stops the release but is shot in the leg by a frustrated Peter, who gloats until the same gas starts flooding the vault as well. Realizing David has betrayed him, Peter opens the vault so that Tris and Four can stop the gas release. Peter flees back towards the cloaking shield, as Four vows to find and kill Peter.
Caleb arrives and aids Tris in destroying the gas dispersion hub, which stops the release. The group gathers atop the Erudite building as it watches David’s shuttle, which autopilots back towards the Bureau and is heavily laden with explosives. Tris transmits a message to the whole world that reveals to them the existence of the Bureau and that Chicago was an experiment in genetic purity. Her message to the Bureau is that Chicago is no longer their experiment but now the home of its citizens. Caleb detonates the explosives at the end of the message, which tear a massive hole through the cloak wall and reveal the Bureau. As the group watches, David’s image is revealed to stand behind Tris via a Bureau remote viewing device.
Cast
See also: List of Divergent characters
Shailene Woodley (left) and Theo James (right), who play the lead roles in the film
Shailene Woodley as Beatrice “Tris” Prior
Theo James as Tobias “Four” Eaton
Ian Belgard as Young Four
Miles Teller as Peter Hayes
Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior
Zoë Kravitz as Christina
Jeff Daniels as David
Maggie Q as Tori Wu
Naomi Watts as Evelyn Johnson-Eaton
Octavia Spencer as Johanna Reyes
Bill Skarsgård as Matthew
Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior
Anna Stevenson as Young Natalie
Keiynan Lonsdale as Uriah Pedrad
Nadia Hilker as Juanita “Nita”
Ray Stevenson as Marcus Eaton
Daniel Dae Kim as Jack Kang
Mekhi Phifer as Max
Xander Berkeley as Phillip
Jonny Weston as Edgar
Joseph David-Jones as Hollis
Andy Bean as Romit
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.