There’s an apoliticality that director Alex Garland adheres to within the framing of Civil War, a film that’s inherently political as it tackles the division of the United States. Here in a modern day USA where an alternate landscape is explored (although, chillingly, you could imagine such unrest escalating to the type of environment flexed here), violence is running rampant, and it’s the relationship between the American public and the media, and how the latter chooses to showcase such violence, that Garland’s increasingly intense 110 minutes focuses on. There’s no denying how engaging a film Civil War is, and it’ll certainly generate conversations, but whether or not it stimulates on the level its topic calls for will fall on the individual viewer.
At its core are Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and Joel (Wagner Moura), two war-embedded journalists who are practically numb to their brutal surroundings at this point. Their latest venture planned revolves around a road trip from New York to Washington DC to interview the president (Nick Offerman) before the rebel factions arrive. Veteran journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) doesn’t entirely support such a venture, but he tags along in order to be dropped at Charlottesville in transit, and aspiring war photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny, in the film’s most divisive role) wiggles her way into the backseat, much to the chagrin of Lee, who feels as if her inexperience requires babysitting.
This quartet’s journey essentially sets up Civil War as an unlikely road movie. And it’s their individual dynamics that imbue the film with the necessary heart needed to offset the ambiguous danger that surrounds them. Garland leaves the details to the war itself equivocal, but there appears to be just enough suggestion throughout to determine which states are “good” and which are “bad”. The lack of in-world information as to how this war came about could irk some viewers who crave exposition, but broadcasts referring to the “Antifa massacre” (Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States) and the president’s decision to disband the FBI dangle just enough breadcrumbs for audiences to bake their own conclusions.
The film’s movement plays into an almost post-apocalyptic like structure, where Lee, Joel, Sammy and Jessie move from one dangerous moment or encounter to the next. Whilst on the surface there is a rinse-and-repeat type mentality to such, each set-piece is enthralling, and the fact that they rush headfirst into such peril only adds to the oft-unnerving temperament the film delights in; one of Civil War‘s most uncomfortable moments centres around Jesse Plemons‘s unnamed soldier and his racist viewpoint that places two of Lee and Joel’s colleagues encountered along the way in immediate danger.
It all culminates in a third act that riddles itself with gunfire and explosions (and one character’s act that is sure to anger and frustrate), but ultimately no closure. It’s massively intense, impeccably acted (Dunst and Henderson standing out), the decision to make the photojournalistic characters unbiased is wise, and the immersive cinematography and sound design continually reels the audience in, even if they don’t want to be. But the intellectual brawn of Garland’s past works isn’t quite as muscular here, leaving Civil War slightly hollow despite its deep subject matter.
That being said, this film will undoubtedly give rise to debates, and there’s no taking away that there’s an impact here, however one views it. And, if nothing else, the absolute anxiety and unrest Garland creates here is worth a trip all on its own.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Civil War is screening in Australian theatres from April 11th, 2024.
