Alex Garland’s Civil War Is Brutal, But Highlights An Important Issue
A24 has come out with incredible movies like Ti West’s Pearl, Ari Aster’s Hereditary, Helina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, and now their most expensive movie yet with Alex Garland’s Civil War. The dystopian film follows a group of rugged journalists — Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), Joel (Wagner Moura), Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) — as they embark on a journey to cover the ongoing war between The Western Forces and the government. Through upheaval, they work to capture the atrocities and towards their end goal of interviewing the President, who’s referred to as a fascist.
Garland throws you into the action after the President’s speech and, if it’s one thing these action scenes are, it's loud! The production used full blanks on set compared to the standard which means it’s as loud on film as it was on set, as Dunst shared in a Q&A after a screening. There’s many scenes where silence fills the audience and then a loud bang comes, resulting in audience members jolting out of their seats. In particular, a later scene featuring Jesse Plemons as a ruthless soldier threatening to kill Jessie and Bohai (Evan Lai), a reporter from Hong Kong, is uncomfortable as Plemons’ character goes on a racist power trip about Bohai and his colleague Tony (Nelson Lee). They both meet an unfortunate end and that loud bang echoes in your head, which is both traumatizing and haunting to experience.
If you come into the film with the expectation of it being a straightforward war film, get ready to leave completely questioning everything. That is Garland’s intention with this film. It leaves out the reason why this civil war is happening in the first place which might cause frustration, but gives viewers the chance to soak in how this may have happened and draw the parallels themselves. It also makes you think about where you politically fit into a situation like this and to question it further. It walks a fine line between showing the effects of war yet not romanticizing or glorifying it. I applaud the entire team who kept that issue in mind and consciously avoided any major bias.
All of the characters have their certain quirks and methodology that feels authentic to real life journalists. Dunst portrays a world-renowned rugged character, while her partner Joel offers comedic relief. Jessie is a newcomer so her nervous perseverance meshes well with Sammy, who’s the oldest and very father-like. Their performances are so powerful in a story that it feels like an ode to the war photojournalists around the world. Moura’s humor is a joy to relish in and heartbreaking when his spirit gets broken by more personal tragedies. Dunst starts out the film as stern as one can be and follows a mindset of “we take photos so others can ask.” As the film progresses, we see that the events taking place wear her down to the point that she can’t move as quickly. To display those genuine emotions will resonate to any journalist who’s been in a similar situation.
As they set out on their road trip to D.C., they stop by an idyllic town that seems to ignore that there’s a civil war happening. I enjoyed that they showcased this because war tends to feel so distant and people choose to ignore it if it doesn’t concern them. This scene takes it a step further to share the message that “no nation is immune” and show the jarring human behavior to willfully ignore tragedy. Additionally, this scene also showcases the growing mentorship between Dunst and Spaeny’s characters as they try on a boutique’s dresses. I think their friendship off-screen only enhanced those small feel-good moments within the film that we don’t get much of, but I loved witnessing.
The third act is almost non-stop action as they’ve successfully reached D.C. and are a few steps away from where the President is hiding. The group follows soldiers as they push through to get closer to the winning shot: the assassination of the President. I was completely enthralled every second. At this point, Spaeny’s character is super comfortable getting closer to the brutal, bloody fight even if it puts her in harm’s way. A moment that is tragically memorable is Jessie taking a photo when Lee is killed — a parallel to an earlier scene where Jessie asked Lee if she would take a photo of her being shot.
Among Civil War’s ambiguity lies a plethora of lessons and questions about humanity in times of peril. The performances are amazing, while the action scenes are incredibly intense and breathtaking. It’s jaw-dropping, gritty, brutal, riveting, and, dare I say, one of the most memorable movies of 2024.
Civil War is out now in theaters.
