Divergent was a movie adaptation of a YA novel trilogy of the same name. The series focused Tris Prior, played by Shailene Woodley, a teenage girl trying to determine which faction she best fits into. However, the story would eventually go beyond Tris’ struggles to secure a spot in Dauntless. Her identity as a Divergent becomes a crucial part of the danger surrounding her life. The corrupt government was on the way to ruining the world’s society, or what was left of it anyway. In Tris’ journey to revolution, she is not alone, but joined by her boyfriend, Four, and best friend, Christina.
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The first Divergent film had the responsibility of creating the society and the world the novels had built. However, the following movies, Insurgent and Allegiant, caused the franchise to fall apart. When the movies were coming out, teen dystopian future adaptations were everywhere, coming off the end of the Harry Potter and Twilight phenomena while co-existing with The Hunger Games movies and The Maze Runner series. However, Divergent is the only one of those franchises that never got the chance to finish its story, leaving the third film, Allegiant, with an unresolved conclusion. Perhaps, had the adaptations been handled differently, the Divergent franchise could have completed its story.
Better Fidelity to the Books
Red Wagon Entertainment
When it comes to film adaptations of book series, especially ones that need time and space to give an exposition of how the world is meant to work, it can be hard to fit everything in. This is why books are almost always better than their cinematic counterparts. It is nearly impossible to include every storyline and subplot that the books deem essential within a two-hour movie. However, that does not mean that the film should make drastic changes to the adaptations. The Divergent novel series included beloved characters that barely received any screen time in the movies. The significance Tris’ mother has to the overall story is never given time to grow to the extent it needs. The monumental conclusion at the end of the Insurgent novel, following everyone’s panic, is replaced by intrigued and excited marching toward the wall to have a glimpse of freedom.
Allegiant Should Have Been One Movie
Summit Entertainment
Breaking the final novel into two films worked out for Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Twilight, so why did it not work for Divergent? Perhaps, Divergent never received the same excited fandom as the other series. However, there is a gamble in breaking up the final novel. While it creates more space and time to develop the last story and characters, if done wrong, the audience may not be interested enough to return for the final installment.
Allegiant did not create an entertaining or intriguing enough film to have fans hungrily coming back for more. Instead, audiences had seemingly given up on the franchise. The Allegiant novel counterpart was not the easiest of the trilogy to understand either. Still, if the minds behind the movies had decided to conclude the franchise with a trilogy instead of breaking up the story, at least the series would have had an ending.
Becoming a TV Series Instead
Television or streaming series adaptations have an advantage that movies do not. While movies must remain within a specific time limit, shows can break up the story into individual episodes, creating an overall longer runtime. Had Divergent been told episodically, the series could have dived into world-building, character arcs, growing revolution, and the truth of what lies beyond the wall at a better pace. A television show would also give more time to essential supporting characters that were barely involved in the movies. Finally, although it is uncertain if a television series would have been able to finish the franchise with a natural conclusion, it still would have had more potential to stick closer to the storylines and characters in the novels.
Movies risk the potential of feeling rushed or lacking essential characters or storylines in their attempt to decide what the most critical plotlines are. Television shows, because they have more time overall, have the ability to branch out and tell more stories the movies determine are not essential to make it to the screen. Divergent comes with plenty of backstories, betrayals, and different character arcs. However, the film may tell only the easiest or surface-level conflicts. A movie, sadly, cannot fit everything from the novels. Although a television show would likely not follow the book word-for-word either, it would still have a better chance of telling a story closer to the novel and portraying a variety of characters better. The Divergent series may very much be about Tris in both counterparts. However, while the movies may flounder in developing the surrounding characters, a television show may have had the time to expand the essential supporting characters and villains, rather than just Tris and her immediate circle.
