The Dark Divide | 2020 | NR | – 4.4.5

Why is “The Dark Divide” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a fully nude man chasing his wife, a man wearing only briefs in a few scenes, many scenes of danger and potential peril along a wilderness trail causing a man some bloody injuries and the loss of his supplies, a man shooting at another man, a man punches another man, several arguments, a scene of chemotherapy and the death of a woman from cancer, and one possible F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the autobiography of butterfly scholar Robert Pyle “Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide”: A man (David Cross), distraught and feeling hopeless after his wife (Debra Messing) has died, undertakes a 124-mile trek through the pristine Pinchot National Forest, all alone, with few preparations and even less expertise. Also with David Koechner, Kimberly Guerrero, Cameron Esposito and Gary Farmer. Directed by Tom Putnam. [Running Time: 1:47]

The Dark Divide SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A fully nude man (we see his bare back, buttocks and legs) chases his wife (she is wearing a long shirt that reveals her bare legs to the thighs). A bare-chested man runs in the dark and breathes heavily (he seems to be running from something that we do not see). A man wearing briefs is shown several times (we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs). A man’s buttock cleavage is seen when he has his pants pulled down to defecate.
► A tabloid headline reads “Bigfoot’s Love Slave.” A woman describes the legend of two mountain peaks that were lovers turned to stone.
► A husband and his wife lie in bed together.

The Dark Divide VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man stumbles out of brush along a path and a woman screams causing another man to shoot at the first man (he is not struck). Several men shove a man against a truck and one man knees him in the stomach; he falls to the ground gagging and the man threatens him. A woman drives a car off the road and onto a truck emergency brake lane; we see her with a bloody mouth and face and her two front teeth are chipped.
► A man gets lost and after hiding in a hole in the ground, when a bear passes by, he goes through a dark cave and tunnel in the ground, he finds cave paintings, he tumbles down on some rocks and panics when he thinks he can’t get out (he has blood on his head and legs); he hears noises that frighten him and he runs out in a panic (we do not see what was making the noise). A man falls into a rapid running stream and we see him bobbing up and down in the water as he screams and his possession wash out of his pack; he pulls himself to the bank and breathes heavily but recovers. A man walks into an area where people are cutting down trees and one tree nearly falls on him. A man chases a butterfly and tries to catch it; he stumbles and nearly falls over a high cliff, but pulls himself back up to safety. A storm blows toward a man and we see a lightning strike in the distance causing flames to shoot up from trees; the man scrambles to pack up his camp but he gets drenched. A man collapses on a dirt trail in high winds as two boys riding motorbikes speed up the hill kicking dirt behind them. A man scooches cautiously along a fallen tree over a rapid running stream; we see him walking over a similar tree later. A bare-chested man runs in the dark and breathes heavily (he seems to be running from something that we do not see). A young man stands up and moves toward a man aggressively, but does not harm him. A large rock crashes through the back window of a man’s car and he speeds away from a dark forest.
► A woman sits in a chair in a transfusion center with an IV next to her; we understand that she is having chemotherapy. A man catches a fish and we see him cooking it over a fire. We hear wolves at night rummaging outside a man’s tent, howling and crying. A man whistles at night and we hear animals in the forest chattering (as if they are answering him). An owl lands on a man’s head (he’s wearing a hat) and sits there for a few minutes; when it flies away we see a trickle of blood on the man’s head. A man’s pack is ravaged overnight (we assume by a bear). A man fishes a spider out of a glass of lemonade and places it on a table. A man’s pack tumbles down a hill and out of sight. A man burns his hand when trying to light matches to start a fire. A man finds an incredibly large footprint along a trail.
► A man yells at people that he thinks are riding dirt bikes through a forest, but they are a forestry team. A man yells at another man about destroying the habitat of the spotted owl. A wife tells her husband a “knock, knock joke” and when he says, “Who’s there,” she replies, “Death” and he says it’s not funny. A man types “Cancer” repeatedly using his typewriter and rushes to delete the words when his wife comes behind him (she is suffering from cancer). A man tells another man preparing to hike through wilderness trails, “The bears are gonna be extra hungry.” A man asks a woman in a convenient store about Bigfoot and says, “There’s one born every minute.” People mock a man for the stench of bear feces lingering on his clothing (he tripped) and we hear bees or flies buzzing around him. A woman asks a man if he’s been “seeing things he can’t explain.” A wife asks her husband why he acts differently when “other white people are around.” A wife says of her husband, “He was a good man once.” A man talks about the chemicals being sprayed on some species of insect and how that would affect other species. A man talks about an expedition he is planning and two other men mock him for not being properly prepared.
► A man goes to a children’s play area and plays laser tag; he chases children as they run and scream and a young woman blocks the man and tells him to leave as alarms blare.
► A woman vomits in a toilet presumably from reactions to chemotherapy; we hear retching and splattering and do not see goo. A man empties a blister on his foot and we see fluid spurt. A man eats a berry along a trail, he grimaces and unfastens his pants, squats and defecates (we do not see his feces); he hears a bear moving nearby and quickly pulls up his pants but slips and falls in a pile of bear feces (we see the pile and see that his clothing is smeared with the goo). A woman coughs and winces in pain. A man eats a berry on a trail and spits it out complaining that it is bitter. A man urinates and we hear trickling.

The Dark Divide LANGUAGE 5

 – 1 possible F-word, 5 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (owl people, harmless, dumb, stupid, nuisance, terrible, misinformed, mean, reckless, irresponsible, miserable, quite common, stupid, furious, monster, big ‘en, pothead, old dopers, owl nut, idiot), exclamations (good grief, oh wow, no), 1 religious profanity (GD), 10 religious exclamations (Jesus, Jesus Christ, Oh God, God, God Bless It, God Speed, a reference to Holy Men). | profanity glossary |

The Dark Divide SUBSTANCE USE

 – Many prescription drug vials are lined up on a table and a man fills a dispensing tray, and a man talks about people using peyote. People drink alcohol in a bar scene, a partially empty bottle of whiskey is seen on a bedside table, and two men drink bottles of beer (one man falls asleep later).

The Dark Divide DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Conservation, ecology, lepidopterists, death of a loved one, cancer, biodiversity, sorrow, grief.

The Dark Divide MESSAGE

 – Challenging the dangers and appreciating the splender of nature can bring closure.