The first-generation immigrant experience, class and racial unrest, coming of age, a young adult romance, and a crime story all collide in Houda Benyamina’s debut feature “Divines.” But instead of those elements creating a complex tale of contemporary life in France’s underclass, the resulting picture is an odd collection of strident single notes, a film that presents a curiously all or nothing stance on the chances of those living on the fringes of society have in finding a better fate. Powered by a pair of strong performances from Oulaya Amamra and Déborah Lukumuena, their presence manages to keep “Divines” engaging even as it slips from character study to genre exercise.
Young and full of anger she doesn’t know where to put, Dounia (Amamra) dreams of a life full of riches, as far away as possible from the Roma camps where she lives. Her alcoholic, emotionally needy mother (Majdouline Idrissi) can hardly be counted on for support, let alone act as a role model, so Dounia turns toward the drug slingers in her neighborhood as the key to her freedom. Showing off her courage and cleverness to head hood Rebecca (Jisca Kalvanda) lands her a job on one of the queenpin’s corners, and soon Dounia is moving up the criminal ranks. By her side through it all is the deeply loyal Maimouna (Lukumuena), while hotbodied streetdancer turned professional Djigui (Kevin Mischel) battles through Dounia’s tough exterior to find the tenderness she has below the surface.
If aligning yourself with a drug dealer seems fraught with pitfalls, Dounia is blissfully, naively unaware. As she moves ever closer to serious danger in completing each task Rebecca gives her, Dounia’s fearlessness, driven by her singular purpose to finance her future, is easy to understand. Less believable is that she doesn’t see how Maimouna could be the unintentional victim of her actions, particularly in a difficult to swallow third act, which finds Dounia attempting to hatch her own scheme to fast-forward her ambitions. Also head scratching is a sequence in which Dounia openly taunts the police, putting Rebecca’s very business in danger.
Especially in its second half, “Divines” tends to start drawing back on the sophistication of its characters, and pushes harder indulging its genre elements. The love story between Dounia and Djigui seems like pure fantasy, one of those tales where two people are so antagonistic toward each other, that it winds up fueling their passion. And this all leads to a conclusion that feels less like the logical result drawn from the decisions made by the characters, and more manipulated by Benyamina to evoke a response from the audience. This unfortunate approach leaves nuance out of a drama that flirts (compellingly at times) with exploring real issues of religion, societal divides, and the lack of resources for those struggling to even obtain the bare necessities for day to day living.
However, there are some silver linings. Amamra and Lukumuena are terrific together, with an electric chemistry that is crucial to their roles. Benyamina also displays impressive energy behind the camera in her feature debut. The filmmaker sidesteps wallowing in the seamier sides of Dounia’s surroundings, and keeps her camera focused on her lead character, allowing to us to see the world and her aspirations, directly from her perspective. And there are winning stylistic flourishes too, such as a sequence in which Dounia and Maimouna take an imaginary ride in a Ferrari, with a dolly shot that recalls the early work of Spike Lee. And while the storyline involving Djigui’s journey is one too many, Benyamina nonetheless gives the dance sequences considerable life, often shooting them from overhead. There’s no doubt she’s a filmmaker to watch, and her subsequent work will definitely be worth keeping an eye on.
Benyamina displays an empathetic and insightful view of young women, and the challenges of growing up, even if the screenplay doesn’t always follow through. But what “Divines” absolutely gets right is the deep longing and hunger young people have to better their circumstances, and the desperate lengths they’ll go to reach those goals. With the political world seeing a shift toward the right, and rhetoric that often positions immigrants as shiftless, “Divines” is an important reminder that these communities come to developed countries precisely because they want to contribute and there are real opportunities for success to be found. The film doesn’t offer any solutions, nor should it, but it shows that someone like Dounia has much to offer, if only the world around her would reach out and connect in a meaningful way. [C]
“Divines” debuts on Netflix on Friday, November 18th.