‘Divorce’ movie review: A sensitive take on what happens when a spouse turns into a stranger

Mini IG narrates the story of ‘Divorce’ through the lives of six women going through different stages of a legal separation

Many marriages made on earth are rendered asunder in courts. The anger, grief, guilt, denial and pain when a spouse becomes a stranger has been sensitively captured in Divorce, debutant Mini IG’s feature film.

Divorce depicts the myriad socio-economic aspects of a legal dissolution of a marriage in Kerala. What drives a couple apart? How does it affect the partners, their children and the families involved?

Scripted by Mini, Divorce unfolds through the lives of six women from various walks of life, all in the different stages of a divorce.

Dancer Anju’s (Priyamvada) desperation to be financially independent and find a space of her own is moving. Her plight throws light on the stigma of divorce as even her parents refuse to support Anju and her daughter. Another memorable character is Sainaba, whose husband deserts her and her two daughters. Her confusion and anguish are writ large on her face as her husband refuses to attend court hearings or provide for her children. Divorce reminds us of how single women are judged by a patriarchal society.

Even confident, financially independent women like advocate Radhika (Akhila) and actor Anandi (Amalendu), have their own emotional storms to handle. In Anandi’s case, it is her success that sours her marriage as her director-husband Gagan (Chandunath) turns bitter and abusive when his films flop.

Noorjehan (Shibla) is thrown out of her marital home when her husband discovers her affair with another man. She loses her two daughters when the court gives the custody to the father.

However, two hours is insufficient to do justice to so many characters, especially since each narrative touches upon the background of many of the key characters.