Released: April 2024
Director: Alex Garland
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Rated R
Distributor: A24
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Cast:
Kirsten Dunst: Lee
Nick Offerman: President
Wagner Moura: Joel
Cailee Spaeny: Jessie
Stephen McKinley Henderson: Sammy
What makes a movie important? Is it the subject matter? Or is it the time in which the film was made? The fact of the matter is, is that a lot of reasons go into making a movie important, especially in cultural terms. When you look back in the early days of cinema, the mere fact that the medium was invented was important. It changed again when silent movies became “talkies.” When The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind came out, color was added, giving these films more depth and personality. But over the decades, the how and why of movies became important began changing. Psycho from 1960 featured one of the first brutal onscreen deaths in a shower. In 1977, Star Wars changed how movies were made in terms of special effects and camera-work. But again, movies began changing in terms of how they were written and the subject matter involved. In 1993, Steven Spielberg released Schindler’s List. The subject matter in that film is still relevant. So, what do we have today that one could consider important? Honestly? Alex Garland’s Civil War.
Civil War takes place in a not-to-distant future in which the United States is embroiled in a Second Civil War. The movie follows Joel and Lee, two veteran photojournalists as they document deteriorating situations in New York. Lee sees Jessie, a wannabe war photographer, and they take cover when an explosion rocks the city streets. Later in a hotel, Joel and Lee agree to take a former New York Times journalist, Sammy, to Charlottesville, before they head to Washington D.C. Jessie also tags along to learn from Lee. During their journey, they see some truly horrific things that are being perpetrated by rebel forces, before they reach Charlottesville in Virginia. There’s been some controversy over the last couple of weeks surrounding Civil War. A lot of that stems from people not understanding what kind of movie this is. This is not really an action movie, and it’s certainly not a glorified war movie. This is essentially a road trip movie, where the audience is along for the ride every step of the way. There is nary a moment when the cameras aren’t on our main group. Because the film focuses on the journalists here, it wisely avoids making a political statement be it left or right. The purpose was to show the truth from the ground level, and the audience is not given a direct answer as to how the war started or why. People looking for answers are not going to get them here. This about the journey, not the destination, even if the journey is terrifying. There are moments in this movie that will be shocking to a lot of people, because most people don’t want to think of themselves as capable of doing such horrendous things. Well, American history has a very different story to tell. This is an intense and harrowing film that doesn’t let go until the credits roll.
When I said this wasn’t an action, I meant it. There’s really nothing fun about what’s happening on screen. When the violence hits, you feel it. There is a scene in which our journalists run into two more people on the way to D.C when they encounter a couple of soldiers that have dug a mass grave. This is perhaps the most intense moment in the film, and we have Jesse Plemons to thank for such a white-knuckle sequence. He plays an unnamed soldier, but this guy is absolutely mean. If you felt that our journalists weren’t safe before, this scene hammers it home. There are some solid battle sequences, especially the D.C. battle, but again, that’s not what the movie’s about. We are on the ground with these intrepid photojournalists as they try to document everything that they’ve seen and that sometimes leads them into some really harrowing situations. You’re not rooting for one military faction over another, you’re rooting for Lee and company to survive and get their job done.
The acting here is absolutely amazing. I’ve personally never been a fan of Kirsten Dunst, but when given the right material she does pretty well, and she’s in top form here as a veteran photojournalist that took Jessie under her wing. Cailee Spaeny as Jessie is a revelation. We see her evolution as this “greenhorn” journalist as she gets shaken up by some of what she sees early on. In fact, the entire audience is essentially seeing all this through HER eyes, so when she gets shaken up, so do we. Stephen McKinley Henderson has this kind of slightly grizzled but grandfatherly warmth about him that makes him incredibly endearing. He’s so good. I mentioned Jesse Plemons earlier, and I have to reiterate that he’s a fantastic actor, despite him basically being a cameo here. Everyone else does a fantastic job.
For all the horrendous things happening in this movie, it’s a stunningly shot movie. The wide-shots overlooking the cityscapes is phenomenal, and even from the ground, everything is bright and easy to see. There is some shaky-cam used, but unlike most movies, there’s a reason for that: Chaos. There’s definitely some CGI used in this movie, because you can’t really have a full-scale assault on Washington D.C. so you have to be very creative with something like that, and it works pretty well. I tell you, though, the one thing that this movie nails is the sound. I’m not talking the music. No, the actual sound. When the guns and explosions go off, you FEEL it. During the battle sequences, our theater was literally shaking. This movie was a fantastic experience.
Look, considering the current state of things here in the United States, some people were a bit concerned about Civil War being released during such a contentious period. I would argue that there was no better time to release this movie. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you’re on, you owe it to yourself to see this movie, but you need to set your politics aside for about two hours. The movie is apolitical as you can get. It doesn’t go into detail about who started the war or why, although it is inferred that the president disbanded the FBI and ended up getting a third term in office, despite the fact that the US Constitution prevents that from happening. A lot of that is going to be left to the audience’s imagination, where it’s sure to be more terrifying and outrageous. Director Alex Garland made the wise decision for the movie to avoid taking sides, even if the audience eventually will. It’s a sharp movie and I’m actually glad that it exists. The idea is for the audience to leave the theater hoping that a second civil war won’t happen. Will it happen? Right now? I doubt it, at least not in the form that took place in this film. But, never say never. I just hope that we wise up enough to avoid getting to that situation, because nobody’ll win. So, I do highly recommend Civil War, but not to people who are unwilling to set aside their politics for about 2 hours. Let the movie speak for itself.