“Civil War” (2024) written & directed by Alex Garland, starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny & Stephen McKinley Henderson / Z-View

Civil War (2024)

Director: Alex Garland

Screenplay:  Alex Garland

Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Jesse Plemons.

Tagline: Welcome to the frontline

The Plot…

In the near future the United States is deeply involved in a civil war.  A third-term President controls the military of the loyalist states.  Texas and California have formed an alliance called the Western Forces.  Florida along with several southern states are part of the Florida Alliance.  Despite the President’s assurances to the nation that victory is near, rumors float that the rebels are close to bringing down the current administration.

Lee (Dunst), a famous war photographer, and her reporter partner Joel (Moura) plan to get to Washington, D.C. to cover the end of the President’s regime.  They end up bringing along Sammy (McKinley Henderson), an older reporter friend, and Jessie (Spaeny), a young woman who dreams of being a war photographer.

As the four travel from New York City to DC, we see first hand the effect the war is having on citizens and soldiers.  Not all will survive…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

It’s interesting that although writer/director, Alex Garland worked to keep the story politically neutral, some viewers are assigning their political beliefs to the film.  Although the President is serving a third term, we don’t know what led to that.  The President is described in the film as a fascist, which is a term that has been applied to leaders of both US political parties.

Often in the film, it’s hard to tell if the soldiers are loyalists or rebels.  In one particular scene, two soldiers and our foursome are pinned down by a sniper.  We never learn the affiliation of the sniper or soldiers.  We only know that someone is trying to kill them before they can kill him.

I believe that Garland’s goal is to get people talking about the film and to show that war is hell. At one point in the film, Dunst’s character says something to the effect that her job is to get the shot and the viewer’s job to ask the questions.  That’s a great way to describe Garland’s outlook with the film.  He made the movie and it is the audience’s job to ask questions to get to the answers.

There are several tense scenes both in and out of battle. We see the best and worst in people from both the loyalists and the rebels.  There are several scenes that will stick with the viewer long after the movie has ended.  Hopefully it will also leave the viewer with thoughts / questions.  Some that came to me were…

• Were the secret service agents guarding the President there because they believed in him and the things that he did or were they there because of their oath to protect him.
• What was the cause of the civil war?  We are “told” the President is a fascist and that he used the military to kill some US citizens.  We don’t know enough about these things to determine their truth.  If true, what was tried to bring about justice before resorting to civil war?
• The President is killed at the end of the film.  He was unarmed and begging for his life. He could have been captured and brought to justice.  Simply executing him sounds like something a fascist regime would do.  Are the rebels the good guys? If not, did the bad guys win?  Or maybe, just maybe labeling people as good or bad is just too simplistic.
• War brings out the best and worst in people.  One could point out several examples of heroism on both sides of the battle.  Also on both sides we see people who enjoy the killing.
• Civil War is extremely well acted.  The four leads, Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson are excellent.  Jesse Plemons is always good and here, in a small scene, he’s never been better.  Kudos to Alex Garland for making an exceptional film.

Civil War (2024) rates 4 of 5 stars.