Divergent

PG-13
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Tony Gold and Ashley Judd
2 Hours and 23 Minutes

This movie is based on the young adult novel "Divergent", by Veronica Roth. It is set in a dystopian society (which just means a community that is undesirable, generally with a totalitarian government and some kind of environmental disaster). So therefore you can tell that the movie is not going to be very uplifting or enlightening.
It is set in a devastated Chicago where everything is very run down and dismal, Lake Michigan is dry and the Chicago river has dried up as well. The city is totally dilapidated and buildings are worn and crumbling. A huge fence has been placed around the city after some kind of war so no one can enter in.
Tris (Shailene Woodley) is the beautiful, strong and determined young lady who has come of age and has to take her "faction test" to determine which faction she will be best suited for. She has been raised in a home with her family all being in the Abnegation faction. When the test is complete she is told she is different from all the rest, hurried out of the room and warned to not tell anyone at all, even her parents that she is a "Divergent", which means she will not fit into any of the factions!
There are five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and  Erudite. There were also a group of wanderers  known as the Factionless. Each citizen has to decide which faction they choose to join after they take their test. The young adult is allowed to make that choice but then they must leave their home and family and reside with their faction for the remainder of their life.
When Tris decides to join the Dauntless faction, she must prove herself in every respect. She undergoes a series of more tests and extreme physical fights with other candidates in a variety of scenarios. They push them to the absolute limits of their abilities. She must endure her greatest fears and triumphantly overcome them. She encounters her superior Four (Theo James) a strong and handsome young man who continues to push her and questions her reasoning for her choice to join the Danutless. They eventually overcome their differences and are attracted to one another.
Tris discovers that all the people are being controlled by a higher power with a leader who is a very normal looking but depraved female leader, Jeanine (Kate Winslet) whose motto is: "There is a certain beauty in the resistance, but it's a beauty we can't afford"!
I have not read the book so I found this movie to be somewhat confusing. I did appreciate young Tris' strength and her ability to be in control of herself and her body at all times. During one of her testing sequences they put her through a simulated very brief rape scene where she conquers her fear and she is victorious in getting her message across!
Parents be advised: This is a PG-13 with some violence (dangerous stunts, fighting, knife throwing, guns and shooting, bird attacks, quicksand, fire, and an attempted rape scene.
I am giving "Divergent" two and a half bags of popcorn.