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MOVIE REVIEW
Alex Garland Presents A Disturbingly Raw Look At America Up In Flames With 'Civil War'
By Sal LoCicero | April 14, 2024
Alex Garland is back (once again), after the release of his 2022 (misfire) horror thriller ‘Men’, he has now released his fourth feature titled ‘Civil War’. Garland has already shown moviegoers that he leans into political thought-provoking science fiction stories with ‘Ex Machina’ (2015), ‘Annihilation’ (2018), & ‘Men’ (2022). However, he has written movies that dove into multiple genres, including horror, action and drama with ‘28 Days Later’ (2002), ‘Sunshine’ (2007), ‘Never Let Me Go’ (2010), & ‘Dredd’ (2012).
Now, writer-director Alex Garland presents us with a post-apocalyptic political thriller, where in an alternate modern day world two states are at war with each other. Three photojournalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Carlee Spaeny), who put themselves on the line to capture all of the chaotic world events, go on a life threatening road trip to Washington D.C. for an interview with the President.
What, at first, looked like a (cheap) dark political satire, may actually be the most disturbingly raw film you’ll see this year. From start to finish, Garland puts you right in the middle of the conflicts - that usually end incredibly harshly. Our main protagonist Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) is a famous photojournalist, who is no stranger to putting oneself in the line of danger to capture the many global atrocities over the years, and a lot of it has scarred her. Here, she works with Joel (Wagner Moura) to make their way to D.C. to interview the president, along with Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny), a young up and coming photojournalist who takes major inspiration from Lee.
This movie does not allow you to catch a break, we follow these people all the way through, and are (sometimes) just as scared and shocked as they are. The stakes only get higher as the film progresses, and it only becomes an even bigger challenge to sit through it. Alex Garland has made a feature that, while is already polarizing, chooses not to pick sides regarding politics. It’s an anti-war film that takes a different approach to the subject matter. Given how the world has shifted in today’s climate, the filmmaking is (almost) exact to a documentary, making this 104 minute film even more terrifying.
As mentioned before, this is a disturbing and raw movie. It’s mean, scary, and shocking. The performances are all fantastic, including one scene featuring Jesse Plemons. That scene alone will permanently stay in the audiences’ memory, due to how not only anxiety-inducing but petrifying it truly is. Plemons alone could possibly receive Oscar praise for his performance. He is cruel and inhumane while remaining completely calm and quiet.
The characters are interesting enough for you to grasp any care for them, but like both the characters and the writer-director, they are not here to pick sides nor question all of what is around them. We get very little backstory, but the script remains true to its documentary style of storytelling. We can’t really judge them, but that is also the point. Although, there are a tiny few cliques that are present with some of the leads.
The last act is when the big (not so typical) action spectacle arrives and it’s nothing except mayhem. The sequence is amazingly executed and it shows how this is A24’s largest project yet. The IMAX experience increases every bit of the tension. The 1.85:1 aspect ratio fills up the big screen expanding on the film’s dark and grim nature.
People are going to either love it, hate it, or feel in-between, but one thing is for sure, Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ is unlike anything that this generation has experienced in theaters.
Grade: A
What are your thoughts?
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