Alex Garland’s intense dystopic thriller is unquestionably timely, but a dearth of context quietens its political alarm bell
In a year when record numbers of people around the world are voting in elections, and amidst various escalating threats to democratic traditions, there is no better time for a film like Alex Garland’s Civil War to remind us of where irreconcilable political divisions can lead.
This fictional dystopic thriller envisions the disastrous and grisly consequences of a modern-day American Civil War. It portrays a United States which has descended into brutal conflict between a tyrannical third-term President (Nick Offerman) who has disbanded the F.B.I., and an insurgent militia of ‘Western Forces’ from Texas and California attempting to overthrow him.
The film’s narrative follows four journalists – weather-worn veteran conflict reporters Lee and Sammy (played superbly by Kirsten Dunst and Stephen McKinley Henderson respectively), spirited interviewer Joel (Wagner Moura), and youthful, along-for-the-ride photojournalist Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) – as they embark upon a treacherous road trip towards a besieged Washington D.C. to interview and photograph the President.
At its most impactful, Civil War’s depiction of a realistic war-ravaged dystopia is graphic, harrowing and frighteningly believable. One intense scene, in which a racist interrogator is determined to execute those he doesn’t see as “real Americans”, is an especially powerful reminder of the horrors unleashed by complete collapse of societal cohesion.
But cinemagoers are already grimly aware of the real-life barbarity of war, perhaps more so at this moment than they have been for years, because of what they see each night on their TV screens and social media feeds. In Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Myanmar and elsewhere, atrocities are a regular occurrence to which cameras bear witness. And, unlike during Civil War, we cannot reassure ourselves when seeing such footage that it is a work of fiction. Much of the dystopia portrayed in Civil War already exists – just not in the United States.
The reality of this is alluded to in the film when Lee remarks about other war zones she has covered (“I thought I was sending a warning home – “Don’t do this”. But here we are.”). And it’s partly because we have seen the real-life horrors of war reported so frequently of late that Civil War’s cinematic constructions and plot contrivances – such as its very violent, believability-straining climax and several instances of far-fetched journalist behaviour – jar even more.
Civil War is often so subtle in its allusions as to be politically meek, its overarching moral message - such that there is one - lost far too frequently in the cacophony of painful atrocities it depicts.
Despite its many brutal and shocking war scenes, there is a sense of the film tiptoeing around when it comes to imparting a political message. It has an understandable determination to steer clear of partisanship towards one party or another, so as to avoid one ‘side’ being fictionally blamed for the conflict (rare references in the film to events before the war such as “the Antifa massacre” are left deliberately vague and open-ended). But, even allowing for that, Civil War is often so subtle in its allusions as to be politically meek, its overarching moral message - such that there is one - lost far too frequently in the cacophony of painful atrocities it depicts.
The script in general leaves too much to inference – Lee's possible struggle with PTSD as a conflict reporter is repeatedly implied but never explored in enough depth. And the ending is ultimately unsatisfying and lacking in resonance, offering minimal consideration or closure on the issues the film raises in its climactic build-up. It is not that we must have a happily-ever-after, but the lack of a proper emotional reckoning or resolution leads to Civil War ending with an oddly cold conclusion considering its dramatic and traumatic final minutes.
Rating: 2.5/5
Photo: John Griffiths, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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