Civil War (2024)

I am often wary of movies with hot-button issues that come out around a general election.  It is the time when Hollywood, and often many independent filmmakers, ramp up the propaganda on both sides.  Technically there are laws against using movies or television shows to blatantly sway an election, but there is also the First Amendment and a whole lot of grey area.  This is why Danesh D'Souza often gets away with his unwatchable "documentaries" and why we got a film about killing President Bush back in the 2000s.  

That is why I was concerned about Civil War when I first heard it about it.  There are certain elements on the right that seem to be pushing for one, as if returning to one of the bloodiest periods of our nation's history would be a good thing.  I was also afraid that this movie would open a new can of conspiracy worms in the form "social conditioning", as if there is a secret cabal trying to lead us in this direction.  Alex Garland, the writer and director, instead just wanted to take a what-if scenario and do a tribute to the hard work of journalists who report on conflicts around the world since a number of people in his family worked in the field over the years.  What he succeeded in doing was making a somewhat realistic movie about the final days of such a conflict and how it would affect various aspects of our country while managing to stay politically neutral throughout. 

The President (Nick Offerman) is in his third term and has used the U.S. military and the Secret Service to commit a number of war crimes.  The country has broken into four factions, with the Western Forces of California and Texas being the most powerful, followed by the Florida Alliance which takes up most of the southeast and the New People's Army in the northwest and northern plain states.  Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) is a seasoned wartime photojournalist currently in New York with her partner Joel (Wagner Moura).  Joel convinces her to travel to Washington, D.C. to see if they can get an interview with the President despite the fact that the capitol is closed to journalists, many of whom have been executed.

After a suicide bombing during a water riot Lee meets a young woman named Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) who idolizes her and wants to do what she does.  Against her will Joel agrees to take her as well as another veteran named Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) along with them for the roundabout drive to Washington.  Along the way they encounter the various ways that the war has affected the nation, from outright attempts to ignore it to vigilante justice and extremist groups acting out in the face of a lack of local authorities.  Meanwhile, Jessie learns what the job really is, while the team learns that despite the President's speeches that the insurrectionist forces are within striking distance of D.C.

Garland wisely avoids too much backstory, putting us into the conflict as it is coming to a conclusion.  He also doesn't apply any political association to the President, only that he has violated the Constitution and pretty much installed himself as a dictator, using what military is loyal to him to try to keep the country under his thumb.  He also does not make the rebel fighters, most of whom appear to be active military prior to the country splitting, look like heroes.  There is no hint of where the nation may be headed after the fighting or who may be replacing the President.  The situation is messy, part of the message is that there are no true heroes in war and the people we are following do not have any ready answers except for what they observe. 

The performances are all around solid as can be expected, even if Jessie's character arc is a bit too predictable.  The four main actors were put together in a car with cameras and microphones for a good portion of the filming to enhance the feeling of comradery, and it works.  Lee gets developed the most so Kirsten Dunst does a bit of the heavy lifting as a person that is barely holding her own PTSD in check, and she gives a believable and understated performance.  Jessie Plemons, as a soldier leading a squad of white supremacists, is the best antagonistic portrayal in the film.

The whole movie works well as it does not overstay its welcome, bludgeon the viewer with a ton of details or overdramatize the situations.  It saves the greater portion of the action for the end assault on Washington, D.C. rather than causing sensory burnout by going too far and too fast.  Despite not having a political agenda it is still effective as one would expect a good piece of speculative fiction to be.  As far as whether things would play out this way in reality it's a situation I hope to never see.  If there is any message to the movie that is it: a civil war is not just a game of paintball played for fun out in the forest.  It involves destruction and death on a level not seen in decades and, in the end, there is no guarantee the nation will survive. 

Civil War (2024)

Time: 109 minutes

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson

Director: Alex Garland