Alex Garland’s Civil War is a cautionary tale that’s frighteningly relevant and unsettling. It would be wonderful to live in a social and political climate in which the world shown in the film seems outlandish and impossible. But we don’t, and likely never will.
Garland’s brutal, in-your-face wake-up call is terrifying in both its visual depictions of combat and in its message. Civil War is also one of the best representations of the importance of journalism depicted in a fictional story.
The war is in its last weeks as the story picks up, with California and Texas’ Western Front alliance on the verge of entering Washington DC. As a Californian, this alliance was jarring when introduced in the film’s first trailers, given the states’ political leanings. However, Garland doesn’t address why the two most populated states have found common ground; it’s simply not an issue when taking in the bigger picture.
The Western Front (WF) isn’t the only group attempting to take down the three-term President. Florida leads another alliance, which operates separately from the WF. Other states have either chosen sides or are basically sitting out the war, and individual cities and towns are protecting their citizens with armed border guards and rooftop snipers. Major cities are still recognizable, for the most part, but the streets are empty and businesses are shuttered, eerily echoing the early days of the Covid-19 quarantine.
Reports out of the White House are sporadic and filled with lies, so it’s up to the few remaining journalists to act as impartial observers and provide the facts. Lee (Kirsten Dunst), a jaded war photographer who’s seen more than her fair share of battlefields, and reporter Joel Cullen (Wagner Moura) are determined to travel from New York to Washington DC, taking a circuitous route through areas that aren’t completely shut down or off-limits. Their objective: secure a final interview with the President (Nick Offerman) before Washington DC falls. It’s an incredibly dangerous mission, given that journalists are considered the enemy and shot on sight in DC.
Lee and Joel are joined by veteran New York Times reporter Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who’s anxious to get to the front line of the war which is currently 100 miles outside of DC in Charlottesville, Virginia. The fourth member of their ragtag group is Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a bright-eyed young photographer who idolizes Lee and talks her way onto the team. Lee only reluctantly accepts Jessie’s presence. Lee sees herself in this fledgling photographer and doesn’t want the responsibility of keeping her safe. She also doesn’t have the energy or desire to serve as a mentor.
The 800-mile road trip to DC is incredibly perilous. Safe zones are few and far between, and there’s not much opportunity to let their guard down. Even simple pitstops for gas could lead to life-and-death situations, and idyllic-looking small towns may be home to militias that shoot on sight.
A burned-out helicopter rests in a boarded-up JCPenney’s parking lot. Bodies have been left hanging from overpasses. Smoldering buildings litter the landscape. The world’s gone completely, unimaginably mad. And still, these journalists forge on, knowing that what’s happening must be recorded. “Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home: don’t do this. But here we are,” says Lee. They need to document the brutality and senselessness of this war as a warning. That the country has fallen into another civil war proves no one stops and listens.
Garland’s anti-war film is visually striking, with gritty, realistic combat scenes intermixed with more intimate scenes of the foursome traveling through empty towns and past forests transformed into fiery infernos. Shaky handheld camera work puts us directly into the line of fire. The thunderous sounds of gunfire seem to be ever present in the background, a constant reminder of lives being lost as a nation is ripped apart.
Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson are phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. Dunst portrays Lee as a world-weary war photographer who has lived through untold horrors and in response has built a wall between herself and the world. Spaeny’s young, aspiring photographer Jessie manages to put cracks in that wall by reminding Lee of her own wide-eyed younger years when she still believed her work could have a positive effect on the world. Lee shoots on film in black and white. Lee shoots digitally in color. But both aim for that perfect shot that tells a complete story and sparks conversations.
Unlike Lee, Moura’s Joel allows himself to enjoy the downtime between covering skirmishes. He’s a serious reporter focused on securing what could be the single most important (and historical) interview of his career. Joel’s desire to get to DC and interview the man who’s ordered air strikes against his US citizens and refuses to leave office is spurred on by a higher purpose. The President’s final words must be recorded for posterity’s sake.
Henderson’s Sammy is the grizzled reporter on the verge of retirement who aches for one last big get before getting out. Sammy’s the voice of reason in the group, and Henderson does a terrific job of playing him as a wise elderly mentor to all three of his traveling companions.
Civil War doesn’t spell out what caused the US to be ripped apart. Hints are dropped but Garland, like his heroic lead characters, attempts to tell the story from an unbiased observer’s point of view. In one particularly startling scene, a small-town soldier (Jesse Plemons) has taken it upon himself to decide who lives. His decision is based on the answer to one terrifying question: “What kind of American are you?” What’s the right answer when the entire nation has been turned on its head? It’s us versus them taken to the nth degree, with no agreed-upon definition of either “us” or “them.”
Seeing landmarks destroyed, towns wiped out, and Americans killing other Americans elicited a visceral reaction from me. And Garland’s R-rated drama is heartbreaking and infuriating. Heartbreaking in that some would love to see a version of what happens in the film happen in real life. Infuriating in that its depiction of journalists echoes the treatment they receive while performing crucial work.
Civil War is set in the near future. We can only hope it’s not proven to be prescient.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: April 12, 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Studio: A24
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