Civil War (2024)
It was only a matter of time before A24 started going beyond the quirky indie films they’ve been known for, and Civil War is pretty hard-core. For a road trip movie, anyway.
That’s because the United States is at war with itself. California and Texas have teamed up, forming the Western Forces and Florida is also causing trouble. The war has been going on for a while, but it isn’t everywhere, and there are journalists covering it all guerrilla style, right down in the middle of the action.
One of the best of these journalists is Lee Smith, a photojournalist who’s seen it all and has the face and battle fatigue to prove it. She and her colleague, Joel, decide to drive down to Washington, D.C. to interview the President because it’s been a while since his last encounter with the press. Veteran New York Times reporter, Sammy and a young hopeful, Jessie, who wants to be a war photographer, also come along, and it goes without saying that they get more than they bargained for. They may not come out alive, either.
Civil War is not for the faint of heart. Among other things it’s extremely violent, there’s tons of blood, some torture, we see executions such as a man with a tire around his body being set on fire, bodies are dumped into mass graves, and F-bombs fall like rain. Not that the latter aren’t warranted given the subject matter, but come on, people. The English language is bigger than that.
The story is fairly tight, as it doesn’t try to cover everything about the war or get into too many details about the characters’ backstories. We’re just supposed to focus on what Lee and the other characters see as they make their way to D.C. It shouldn’t seem like enough, but with everything that we see it’s plenty.
However, there are aspects of the movie that seem flat and pointless. We’re never told what caused the war, for one thing, and except for a brief mention of the U.S. government taking out an Antifa riot, the movie carefully avoids politics for the most part. I can understand why filmmaker Alex Garland chose to do this, seeing as America is so politicized and polarized right now, but it ends up stripping these characters of any motivations they might have.
The other thing is that there are scenes when the music is weirdly upbeat despite the show of warfare and carnage. One battle scene has “Say No Go” by De La Soul playing over it, and it strikes a funny tone. In another crucial scene “Dream Baby Dream” by Suicide plays while characters mug for the camera as if they’ve just hooked a prize marlin or something Maybe the filmmakers were trying to illustrate the disconnect the journalists had to have to do their jobs even while death and destruction are happening all around them.
In the end, Civil War is a cautionary tale, as in, The War Is Happening. We’re In the Middle of It. You Don’t Want To Be Here. Trust Us, It’s Not Pretty. I came out a bit depressed and sobered, very nonplussed, but also amazed at what a formerly small, upstart studio has managed to accomplish.
Civil War is currently in theaters. Rated R.
My grade: B
Principal Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Wagner Moura, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen Henderson, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Tim James, Simeon Freeman, James Yaegashi, Dean Grimes, Alexa Mansour
Written and directed by Alex Garland.