“Ascendant” (** out of four) was an ambitious but muddled futuristic sci/fi melodrama about a young environmentalist (Charlotte Best) who wakes up trapped and kidnapped in a mysterious elevator and has to try to psychologically and physically survive while trying to uncover her unseen tormentors (Johnny Paslovsky and Andrew Jack) and stop them as well. Directed with tension and style by Antaine Furlong and vibrantly shot by Frank Flick but story loses its way after a while and eventually descends. No relation to the “Divergent” series but similar in many ways to M. Night Shymalahan’s “Devil” but with different aura and themes.