Civil War (2024)

Review

109min

Genre:       Drama, Thriller, War

Director:     Alex Garland

Cast:         Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura… and more

Writers:     Alex Garland

-Synopsis-

In a dystopian and mortally divided near-future America torn apart by ideology and secessionist coalition states, a group of war correspondents embark on a dangerous odyssey across a ramshackled country towards Washington DC, looking to bear witness to an advancing California-Texas separatist coalition trying to take the White House and the nation from an iron-fisted president leading the remnants of the US federal government.

After tackling profound themes about humanity and its path in sci-fi futurist, environmentalist fantasy, and surrealist horror style with films like ‘Ex Machina’, ‘Annihilation’ and ‘Men’, British screenwriter turned director Alex Garland crosses the pond and keeps his ear to the ground to deliver a sobering warning tale about the dangers of deep ideological and sociopolitical divisions in the modern day United States of America, told through the lens of a visceral and engrossing ode to journalism and combat correspondents.

Kirsten Dunst stars as hard-nosed American photojournalist ‘Lee’, on the road up the East coast of a war-torn USA with fellow reporter ‘Joel’ (Wagner Moura) on a mission to pin down the embattled sitting president for an interview before the secessionist “Western Forces” of Texas and California make their move. But after picking up young aspiring fellow photojournalist/protégé ‘Jessie’ (Cailee Spaeny) and veteran ageing reporter ‘Sammy’ (Stephen McKinley Henderson) along the way, their risky road trip turns even more eye-opening and dangerous as they witness the bloody consequences of the conflict and the division sown, while risking becoming victims themselves as they closely shadow the combatants on a quest to chronicle the fighting up close and personally, struggling to remain neutral whilst trying to retain their humanity on the way to a sombre date with destiny.

Despite initial appearances ‘Civil War’ is not the overtly political film it may seem, painting a frightening picture of a fatally divided America and by design never overtly addressing the ideological causes of the conflict—let alone taking sides—which in today’s delusional social climate will be considered a political act in itself by some, hence the predictable criticism about a lack of nuance and depth already spewed by commentators on both (far) sides of the aisle who miss the point of the film . . . probably deliberately. But then a film of this nature and at this time was always going provoke such reactions, and the British writer/director was of course well aware of that.

Instead Garland cleverly makes the separatists an alliance of the two most politically opposed major states California and Texas so that it cannot be claimed to be Democrat or Republican, and is ambiguous enough about the political nature of the president sitting in what is left of the nation’s capital. Leaving enough space and ambiguity in the overall narrative for those who only see the world through the lens of their personal politics—whatever side of the political spectrum they live on—to claim the film as a champion of their ideology or condemn it as a vehicle for the enemy, which is precisely what ‘Civil War’ is warning us about . . . at least in part.

Yet despite all this, the film is not quite apolitical, and its complex sociopolitical themes are threaded through the story often subtly but occasionally overtly, as Garland pulls off an impressive narrative balancing act whilst also delivering a truly engrossing and striking piece of cinema.

Mind you whatever nerves are touched by the political dimensions of the film, what is not in question when it comes to ‘Civil War’ are its credentials as a kinetic and often viscerally tense conflict drama and gripping classic American road movie. Delivering butt-clenching action and spectacle that’s unflinching, and violence which is often graphic and occasionally brutal, up close and personal and unfolding on the broken streets and abandoned byways of a contemporary Unites States as you’ve rarely seen in film—all vividly captured by Garland’s regular cinematographer Rob Hardy (Ex Machina, Annihilation). The tense and uneasy tone meanwhile is set by a moody score from the director’s regular collaborators Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, which is unexpectedly counterbalanced by a soundtrack of light folk and alternative rock from years gone by which somehow seems to fit, all broken up by the expertly alarming sound design which puts you deep in a multi-dimensional war zone.

Ultimately ‘Civil War’ is not only Alex Garland’s distinctive commentary on America’s dangerous current state of play and view of a country and culture which has dominated the western world and beyond over the last century, but it’s also his personalised ode to true journalism and the daring press on the ground, and those who risk everything to be our eyes where we not dare. All brought to life by a cast on fine form who colour different and often unspoken shades of the intrepid combat correspondent; from rising young American star Cailee Spaeny as the naive but eager young photojournalist, and veteran Brazilian actor Wagner Moura as the thrill-seeking journeyman figure, to Stephen McKinley Henderson as the level-headed veteran reporter and sane moral heart of the piece.

All brought and held adeptly together by Kirsten Dunst as the stoic and slightly jaded photojournalist quietly going through something of an existential crisis, the lynchpin of the story elevated by the still relatively young screen veteran delivering one of her finest performances in recent memory, meanwhile her real life husband Jesse Plemons frighteningly almost steals the show in his brief appearance in the group’s sobering encounter with the personification of the paranoia and xenophobia unleashed by the divisive conflict they cover.

No doubt many commentators—particularly those of the homegrown US variety—will criticise ‘Civil War’ as a cinematic exercise made by a foreigner which does not deliver on the promise of the title, instead using it as a backdrop for a nevertheless gripping and visceral war correspondent road thriller, and for not having enough political depth or social nuance. But it’s often the outsider’s dispassionate and more objective perspective that reveals uncomfortable truths, and rather than argue about who is responsible for the fate of the frightening alternative America in this parabolic warning tale, perhaps it’s best to try and do everything to avoid it before it’s too late . . . even if it means sacrificing some of your own grievances and ideologies. Because in the end it’s not just the American empire which risks collapse, but the entire western way of life which we take for granted, and the alternative to come may well end up being much, much worse.

The Bottom Line…

With ‘Civil War’ Alex Garland pulls off a complex balancing act to deliver a tense, unflinching and completely engrossing centrist anti-war conflict drama which also serves as a warning tale against a path of continued political extremism and deep social division in a nation at war with itself, all wrapped up in a classic American road drama ode to intrepid journalism, ruffling ideological feather by simply not delving into them or taking sides and painting a frightening picture of a United States which may never again live up to its name.

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