Civil War Review
America has been amid a civil war for some time now. Towns and streets are barren, the economy has crumbled, and multiple factions are vying for power, mainly the Western Forces (consisting of Texas and California) and the loyalist states. Jaded, veteran war photographer, Lee (Kirsten Dunst), and her opportunistic colleague Joel (Wagner Moura) set out on a dangerous road trip to interview the president (Nick Offerman) before rebel forces reach the Whitehouse. Accompanying them is another expert journalist, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and aspiring photographer, Jessie (Caylee Spenney) whose innocence is soon to be shattered on this journey into the violent core of America.
Most contentiously, director, Alexander Garland, does not delve into the circumstances or politics as to why America is at war. Instead, the film depicts a present, lived-in world; one where context is given in crumbs as we encounter strange and terrifying civilians on the journey to the Whitehouse. As this anarchic odyssey progresses; the America you witness becomes darker and stranger, uncanny, yet familiar. This is a film far more concerned with the human reaction to the conflict rather than the particulars. This is a risky approach if Garland’s characters were not so authentically penned and performed. Dunst’s tired, world-weary portrayal of Lee feels rich with brutal history, one whose hopes are now drenched in cynicism. Jessie counters this, acting as a younger, naïve reflection of Lee’s past, desperate to become her now dispassionate hero. Joel is one who fuses both the veteran and the youthful. An expert in his field who buries his struggles in alcohol, while getting high off the thrill of warfare. The entire cast from its central star to the smallest role give conviction to this warped world.
Garland’s characters feel real with purpose, imparted with morally questionable flaws, questioning the very humanity that must be removed to portray what must be seen. For Lee, she has now seen too much, someone who felt comfortable capturing such atrocities when it wasn’t on her own soil, but now finds herself struggling to depict what is now at home.
Garland and his editor, Jake Roberts, give the action a unique quality. Jumping between frantic, up close guerrilla warfare, seamlessly cutting to brief, silent photographs that add unorthodox rhythm to the set pieces. The sound design is also immaculate as every bullet effect feels powerful and startling, giving its battles gritty realism. While this is A24’s biggest film to date, budgeted at around 50 million dollars; do not go in expecting massive action spectacle.
Civil War is not a film set out to politically divide its audience. This is a story of ambition, the loss of innocence and the desensitisation of violence. We see how violence effects everyone uniquely, how it transforms individuals, and how it can be capitalised on. This may be the last film Alex Garland directs and if so, he has concluded his filmography with a triumphant piece that holds a mirror to the world and the essence of violence itself.