Got an e-mail recently giving us a heads up on Divine: The Series, a still-unfolding, web-only miniseries about a young priest who is dealing with a faith crisis – and encountering an angel-like, resurrected being named Divine, who roams the streets at night slaying demons.
I thought it sounded cheesy, and my hopes weren’t high when I visited the site. But the three episodes (each about 13 minutes) that are up so far kept my attention for their sense of mystery, surprisingly good production values and acting, and keeping me guessing as to where the story would go. The filmmakers – Maple Blood Productions of Vancouver – say they will “unlock” more answers with each episode, rolling out a new one every couple of weeks.
It’s got a graphic novel feel – stylized action violence, bright red blood spewing everywhere. It’s Quentin Tarantino meets Frank Peretti. The filmmakers are billing themselves as “storytelling for the smartphone generation,” and they say they want to “push the frontiers of online entertainment and tell stories that you can watch in bite-sized chunks,” that last phrase a rather gruesome choice of words considering some of the gory content here. (It’s not rated, but it would certainly get an R-rating for violence and profanity.)
Here’s the first episode. Caution: There’s cussing, graphic gore, and rear male nudity.
