Why Divergent Was One of the Worst Movie Adaptations Ever: A Book to Movie Comparison

Divergent is a young adult novel, written by Veronica Roth in 2011. Along with many other young adult dystopian novels such as Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, it amassed a large following and was set to have a movie adaptation in 2014.

When the movie was released, many fans of the book were disappointed, and the film received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. After watching the movie, I’ll be going over many aspects of it and why I believe it was one of the worst movie adaptations to exist. 

Divergent is set in a world where society is divided into five different factions based on personality traits and impulses. The five factions are: the Abnegation (the selfless), the Candor, (the truthful), the Erudite (the knowledgeable), the Amity (the peaceful), and the Dauntless (the brave). Divergent follows Beatrice, a girl from Abnegation. As soon as Beatrice turned 16, she takes the Aptitude Test, which measures which faction individuals are most suited for. The results from the Aptitude Test are meant to be used as a guide for the Choosing Ceremony, the day where all 16-year-olds are given the chance to choose their faction. During her Aptitude Test, Beatrice is told to drink a liquid called a simulation serum, which causes her to hallucinate. After the test, the test administrator tells Beatrice that she’s Divergent, meaning she’s someone who fits in more than one faction. During the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice joins Dauntless.

Upon arriving at the Dauntless compound, it’s revealed that there will be three stages of initiation and only the top ten initiates will become Dauntless. At Dauntless, Beatrice assumes a nickname, “Tris.” A man named Four introduces himself as a mentor, a “coach” for the initiates. As Tris progresses through initiation, her rank goes from the bottom, all the way to the number one spot. Her initiation isn’t uneventful, as she watches fellow initiate Edward get stabbed by Peter, leading to Edward’s leave from Dauntless. Tris is also targeted during initiation, being kidnapped and almost murdered; however, Four saves her. Four tells her that the Divergent can resist and manipulate simulations, the reason for her high ranking. After the final test of initiation, everyone is injected with a serum, claimed to be a “tracking device” developed by the Erudite. 

The next morning, Tris watches as everyone starts marching, unaware of their surroundings. She realizes that everyone is under a simulation. They enter the Abnegation neighbourhood and the Dauntless start shooting the Abnegation. She realizes that Four is also not affected by the simulation and they run away. Tris gets shot and they are brought to Jeanine Matthews, leader of Erudite. She says that she plans to overthrow the Abnegation government and replace it with her own. Jeanine sends Four to the Dauntless compound and sends Tris to be killed. Tris escapes and rushes to find the remaining Abnegation. Along with other Abnegation, they decide that they will go back to the Dauntless compound to stop the simulation. Tris gets into the control room and she encounters Four. They stop the simulation and the Dauntless soldiers are freed. 

Going into the movie, I didn’t have high expectations as it’s well known to readers that most movie adaptations don’t live up to their source material, Divergent being a prime example.

One of the many issues that impacted the quality of the movie is the acting. Some dialogues seemed forced, which affected the credibility of the movie. There were many changes to the story, such as when they cut out the scene where Peter stabs Edward in the eye.

Therefore, when Peter and Al attempt to kill Tris, it seems very out of the blue, as the movie doesn’t show Peter’s vicious character. Another major change from the book to the movie is when Tris runs into the Dauntless control room to see Jeanine and the Erudite sending out orders to the Dauntless, whereas in the book, Four’s in the control room, with a self-automated computer sending out the commands. 

Combined with the lack of key scenes from the book and the poor acting, the movie could be very difficult to watch for those unfamiliar with the book. Supporting characters such as Al in the movie, making events involving them seem out of place or redundant. Rather than just removing him from the movie entirely, Al is mentioned once at the beginning of the movie, only making an appearance at the kidnapping, where he apologizes and soon after, takes his life. Due to the unfamiliarity with Al in the movie, viewers might feel confused as to who he is and his impact in the story. 

In conclusion, the Divergent movie is not for those who expect an accurate adaptation, as it’s simply not the same as the book. But, if you really want to see if the Divergent movie lives up to its terrible reputation, go watch it yourself and form your own opinion. Maybe, you’ll disagree and say it’s one of the best movies you’ve ever seen. Personally, it pushes all the wrong buttons for me. With the combination of the sub-par acting and its lack of consistency to the book, I consider this movie one of the most disappointing film adaptations I’ve ever watched.