Civil War – A Topical Dystopian War Thriller (Early Review)

Within the past decade, Alex Garland has established himself as a creative and somewhat polarizing force within genre filmmaking. His socially conscious and somewhat grounded approach to the science fiction genre has been a breath of fresh air, even if his filmography reflects varying degrees of quality. Ex Machina is an undisputed classic and Annihilation is an extremely impressive filmmaking feat, but his last film, Men, was widely panned and his reputation within the film community was somewhat diminished because of it. Garland looks to bounce back with his latest film Civil War, which he claims will be his final solo directorial effort.

Garland’s films can be characterized by a sense of existential dread and directly tackle perils that humanity faces, from the ascension of artificial intelligence, to mental health, to the #metoo movement. This film falls in line with Garland’s previous work and is potentially his most politically relevant film to date, as it examines the increasing political divide and lack of understanding of each other within society.

Civil War takes place in a not so distant future where a multiparty civil war completely divides and devastates the United States, which is run by a fascist president in his third term (Nick Offerman). The film follows renowned and hardened photojournalist Lee Smith (Dunst), who rescues aspiring photographer Jessie (Spaeny) from a bombing in New York City. Lee and her colleague Joel (Moura) are desperately in search of a new story to bring to the public in a time of utter destruction and chaos. The pair decide to make the dangerous trek to Washington D.C. to exclusively interview the president before the rebel factions plan to raid the White House on the Fourth of July. Despite attempting to dissuade them, Lee and Joel are accompanied by their mentor and elder reporter Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who wants to travel to Virginia, and Jessie, who forces her way on their trip in hopes of being mentored by Lee. As the unlikely group embark on a dangerous trek from New York City to Washington D.C., they encounter danger, corruption, and unexpected humanity amidst the chaos.

The biggest complaint that has been brought up against it is that despite tackling deeply political subject matter that almost aligns with the division in the world, particularly in Trump America, it is fairly vague about its political stance. Many have taken issue with the film being too timid and failing to outwardly paint fascist leaders and those who blindly follow them as the clear villain of the story. The film does subtly allude to this, but chooses to focus more on revelling in the chaos of war. While there is merit to that criticism, this seemingly neutral approach the film takes makes the it all the more terrifying and thought provoking. In most cases this would be a grave flaw, but it works due to its protagonists being journalists, as it makes a point about the quest for truth and the lack of unbiased political journalism in today’s world.

As with previous Alex Garland films, Civil War is incredibly tense and brilliant from a technical standpoint. With a considerable budget of $50M, it uses that money to place audiences on the battlefield and create an expansive, albeit grounded scope. The film is absolutely stunning in IMAX and features some of the most earth shattering sound design in recent years. Garland does a great job at placing scenes containing unexpected humanity right before scenes exploring the worst humanity has to offer, successfully throwing the audience off guard and playing with their emotions.

Dunst is a rare example of an actress who has successfully transitioned from a child actor and mainstream star, to an extremely well respected force within arthouse cinema. She plays the role of a bitter, war torn woman, with an ounce of humanity buried beneath her walls, very well. Lee’s arc is very compelling, even if it’s not necessarily anything out of the ordinary. Dunst has great chemistry specifically with the always terrific Henderson and Spaeny, an emerging actress who broke out in Garland’s television series Devs. Her ability to portray the loss of innocence through the context of war is emotionally devastating.

Ultimately, the film’s biggest flaw is its fairly thin and underdeveloped premise. Garland isn’t concerned in exploring the root cause of this destructive war or what each side are fighting for, making the film come off as perhaps a tad too vague. Civil War places an emphasis on exploring the relationship between the four journalists and their role within a broken society, but it doesn’t feel nearly fleshed out enough to truly understand the importance of their journey.

While Civil War contains a lot of impressive scenes and performances, and is a technical marvel, it feels like a first draft in many ways. The characters and inciting conflict are underdeveloped, which wanes the emotional impact of certain scenes. It may not be a knockout in the way that Alex Garland’s first two films were, but it is certainly an interesting conversation starter and a tense war thriller worth seeing on the big screen.

*still courtesy of Elevation Pictures*

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Tristan French