"Deepening the Divide" is a fast-paced thriller that explores our increasingly polarized society. Scott’s a closeted gay man living with his recently widowed mother, Roberta, and older brother, Chad Michael, in a rundown home facing foreclosure. Chad Michael’s an angry, far-right conservative furious at a country and system that’s left people like him behind. Pam’s a left-wing idealist. A Caucasian woman engaged to an African American filmmaker, Theo, she sees society finally becoming more accepting, but remains fearful of the rising and open, hate on the right.
Their worlds collide when Pam, Theo, Muhammad, his Iranian-American partner, Marcie, their Jewish producer, and Joel, her gay assistant, head out to the desert to scout locations for a travel documentary. When Chad Michael and his militia mistake them for government agents who've come to spy on them, or worse, Scott is forced to make an impossible choice: go along with his family’s misguided attack, or stand up for his newfound love, Joel, and risk his family’s wrath. Meanwhile, Pam, Theo, Muhammad, and Marcie find themselves stranded in a remote ghost town. Hundreds of miles from nowhere, with no cell service, their tires slashed, and a heavily armed and angry Chad Michael hunting them, they’re forced to fight for their lives. Chad Michael kills Muhammad, shoots Marcie, and nearly kills Theo before Pam manages to slit his throat in a surprise attack.
Scott and Joel try to escape, but are caught by several of the Militia members, who threaten to execute them for “crimes against nature”. When the sheriff arrives, Joel thinks they’re saved, only to realize the sheriff is not only part of the militia but the one who ordered their murders. Pam, Marcie, and Theo arrive, distracting the sheriff. Scott and Joel manage to overpower the men guarding them, and an all-out battle ensues. They manage to kill the sheriff and militia, but Scott and Joel are both wounded.
After Chad Michael’s funeral, a devastated Roberta stands alone at his grave. Scott comes to make amends, but Roberta can’t. As she watches Scott walk away, she remembers happier times. The family sitting around the dinner table, laughing. Scott being there for her when her husband died. How he’s always been there for her, ever since he was a child. Not ready to fully accept this, but unwilling to lose her only child, Roberta asks Scott and Joel to dinner.
