Civil War

An often terrifying and harrowing experience of a not-so-distant future in which fascism and nationalism (I think) wrap themselves in patriotism and two different America’s are at war, writer-director Alex Garland’s (Ex-Machina, Annihilation) Civil War is a harrowing, gripping depiction of a dystopic America. There is certainly some bravura filmmaking to be found that involves some impressively staged battle sequences that compare with Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, and the apocalyptic vision feels just as vivid as Children of Men and 28 Days Later, in which Alex Garland also wrote the screenplay for.

Even when the political issues feel murky and surface-level, Garland’s apolitical Civil War movie is more serviceable when the film grapples with the power of journalism. In the end, Garland’s thesis is that it’s not the politics that matter when brutality and violence are occurring on all sides of the ideological and political spectrum. Like Ingmar Bergman’s Shame, which also depicted dystopian civil wars, Garland’s approach is every bit as anti-war, and it’s also a cautionary tale on the primitive nature of humankind that is tragically pronged to violence. Sadly, the unaffiliated political approach is slight and feels like a major compromise. However, there is so much to appreciate in this film filled with passion.

Courtesy A24  Films

Where the film doesn’t compromise is in the tone. In fact, the first hour of the film, in many ways, feels like the vision Garland wrote for in 28 Days Later. We see abandoned cars, decayed buildings in smoke, and empty cities. Of course, the wavering of political issues is to not push any audiences aside in hopes of Garland building a film that is against war and violence that can reach a wide audience. There is certainly a principle to be found in the film that gets it out of the Purge movie rumpus by showcasing the importance of journalism, but how we never truly understand what the President (Nick Offerman) in the film is for or against feels frustrating. We hear about him serving three terms and that there was a massacre on ANTIFA at some point, but it was deliberately left muddled. Some imagery hits close to home as we see armed resistance forces storm into DC. You can’t help but not recall the January 6th insurrection.

In Garland’s fourth feature, America is in a deep civil war, with endless warfare, anarchy, and chaos occurring across the homeland. The states of California and Texas have joined alliances and have seceded from the Union. Their resistance is called the Western Forces, or WF, and they are close to moving into Washington, D.C., where the president (Offerman) makes presidential addresses claiming how close the WF are to being defeated.

Courtesy A24 Films

We are introduced to a group of photojournalists that are determined to drive through various alternate routes to get into Washington, D.C., where there are reports that the president detains journalists there. They decide to risk getting in danger in order to get essential photos of the events after they learn the WF is close. The group consists of renowned photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst), who ends up being more of a mentor for recent journalist graduate Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), Lee’s close journalist friend Joel (Wagner Moura), who works for Reuters, and veteran Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), who reports for the New York Times. He is the voice of reason.

They all ride together in their press SUVs and have permits to cover behind the lines. The group encounters and witnesses a lot of chaos and mayhem, and their lives are put in danger. The standout scene in the film involves Jesse Plemons as a nationalist solider who is clearly against the WF, and in a very chilling moment, he begins to ask the journalists what part of the country they are from to gauge their loyalty to his version of what America should be like.

It turns out that some kind of division has been going on for a while, and nearly all citizens are armed and have become savages. Lee must buy gas off an armed gas station owner with Canadian money for $300, where they have tied up thieves that tried looting their property. Jessie is startled, and Lee informs her that journalism is certainly a seasoned career.

Courtesy A24 Films

By the end of the film, the payoff between Lee and Jessie has an effective payoff. Garland and cinematographer Rob Hardy stage many great sequences and even freeze the frame to stylistically portray the events taking place, which are captured with photos that make the images even more striking. Civil is unrelentingly distressing, but Garland handles it with passion and care, and it never goes off the rails like Men did in the third act. Still, I can’t stop thinking about how great this film would have been if the subtext and ideas were more balanced, especially Offerman as the president, who is very lightly sketched. Garland allows the viewer to fill in the gaps, but a little more context would have had a greater impact.

Civil War is still a towering work, though. Most of the film feels like a war zone, one akin to Oliver Stone’s Salvadore, Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, Cuaron’s Children of Men, and Bergman’s Shame, where warfare is heard from a distance and the effect feels dislocating. Garland doesn’t waste any energy here, and the actors are all committed to their roles. Seeing Sofia Coppola’s leading ladies, Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette) and Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), on screen together is stirring as they both deliver commanding and emotional performances. Civil War hints at greatness, and even though it holds so much more potential, there is so much that is still satisfying.

CIVIL WAR opens in theaters Friday, April 12th