A Reel Review: CIVIL WAR

For any large-scale film, world-building is essential. In 1977, George Lucas told us that the Empire was evil in the first 10 seconds and that was all we needed. In 2001, Peter Jackson summed up the history of Middle-Earth in an extended prologue that would set the stage for the coming trilogy. For Alex Garland and his CIVIL WAR, world-building is also essential, but is done non-traditional. 

 

In the near future, America is in the midst of a multi-party civil war, centered around a dictatorship under its corrupt President. Renowned war-photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst), her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), newspaper reporter Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and young budding photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), decide to travel to Washington, D.C., to try and interview the elusive and secluded President. 

 

Written and directed by Alex Garland, CIVIL WAR unfolds as an episodic war film, as the group of journalists travel from New York to D.C., taking a roundabout way through Pennsylvania and West Virginia due to highways being closed off or destroyed. The goal is simple; get to the Capital, interview the President. Along the way they are caught in firefights from the two sides, make friends, meet enemies, and barely escape with their lives more than once. 

 

The background of how the (ahem) United States got to this point is revealed piecemeal; there is no prologue or endless opening title-cards telling us how the war started. Instead, Garland leaves clues and hints here and there like breadcrumbs...leaving the audience to piece it together ourselves. On paper, it’s brilliant, and in hindsight, it hits hard. But during the telling it can be confusing; trying to figure out who is on what side is never clear. 

 

Garland is not shy about making a statement on American politics and the threats of seceding States and wanna-be dictatorships. The President speaks in endless adjectives and tough-guy terms, constructs a wall around the White House, and has his troops interrogating prisoners with questions like “what kind of American are you”. It’s on-the-nose, and it is scary. 

 

When CIVIL WAR gets into its war, it is unmatched. Garland drops us right in the middle of the action, with gun blasts really FUCKING LOUD and an incredible sound-mix that will have audiences ducking for cover. It’s realistic (soldiers run out of ammo, move slowly when advancing), and harrowing. As a shoot-em-up, it makes DIE HARD look like a cartoon. Tension is ramped up very well, and the usage of classic rock cuts are perfect. 

 

Also perfect is the acting. Kirsten Dunst puts in one of her best performances, and she is matched well with Wagner Moura. Stephen McKinley Henderson does a lot of heavy lifting, and Jesse Plemons makes a cameo in a very tense scene. The show is stolen by Cailee Spaeny. 

 

The finale and final battle consists of one hell of an assault on the White House and it’s fascist President, and is hard to watch in places. By the time the smoke clears, a lot comes together…and it’s only after the credits start to roll that we start to put the pieces together. CIVIL WAR does its share of world building, but Garland just asks us to do the work. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it