Civil War

The concept of Alex Garland’s dystopian Civil War is interesting and unnervingly close to some form of futuristic reality to say the least, but take note; if you are expecting all-out gun battles, think again.

In America, a team of journalists drive from New York to Washington DC in the hopes of securing an interview with the dictator President (Nick Offerman) before an impending defeat in the war. During their road trip, renowned war photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst), Joel (Wagner Moura), Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and aspiring photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) encounter a number of scenarios that place both their lives in peril and present an alarming insight into how the country has descended into pure anarchy.

You can see where in recent history the inspiration for this movie has come from, although it may not be directly referenced. Instead, Civil War is designed to be apolitical and it is this constant state of uncertainty around friend or foe that keeps the viewer on their toes. Every scene has a tension that you could cut with a knife as war and conflict are brought into horribly familiar neighbourhoods.

Both Dunst and Moura prove to be great leads in their own way. As war journalists, they have seen their fair share of horrors, but it is this that makes them hungry for more. Dunst has the thousand-yard stare nailed down, presenting Lee as one side of the hardened warzone veteran coin. Moura, on the other hand, yearns for the next adrenaline hit you get from being shot at in the heart of a battle. Cailee Spaeny acts as the eyes of the audience in this movie, experiencing a lot of the action for the first time, a very useful plot mechanism to have as we get very little else in terms of plot development out of Lee and Joel. Elsewhere, Jessie Plemons is an absolute scene stealer in the single-digit minutes he is on screen.

It all gets a bit fast and loose towards the end as a final mass assault on the Whitehouse ensues, but the premise of the movie is endearing and what you get through the storytelling is very strong and powerfully moving. Poignantly, Lee tells Jessie that photojournalists go to war zones in the hope of showing people back home what they don’t want to experience themselves. Although Civil War ends too abruptly following the ultimate climax, you are left with plenty of food for thought with the movie itself being a stark warning that what you have just seen is not what you wish to experience in your wildest dreams.

Civil War pulls back the curtain on the world of photojournalism like a kind of tribute. We see photographs from conflicts around the world in everyday life, but we often don’t take the time to think of the person who took the shot. The life-endangering positions these journalists put themselves to show the nation what they cannot see is truly extraordinary.

Guy Lambert

Civil War is released nationwide on 12^th April 2024.

Watch the trailer for Civil War here: