The story of Civil War is relatively simple and is contained enough to comprehend. It takes place in a near dystopian future where a team of journalists travel across the United States during the tail-end of the Second American Civil War. The nation has been split into four different factions: Loyalist states, Western Forces, Florida Alliance and New People’s Army.
The team of journalists are hoping to interview and capture one last photo of the dictatorship U.S. government before rebel factions storm the capital of Washington D.C. The four main characters come from different experiences in combat journalism, but they must stick together to traverse the dangers of what America has become.
If this concept sounds very close to reality, it could be. While there is no direct correlation between the January 6, 2021, riot and the storming of the U.S. Capitol in real life, there are some similarities. Although it was a fictional movie, the atrocities and social commentary were all too real. However, Civil War director Alex Garland has already stated that they started writing the movie in 2020 and definitely had some influence from the incident, but it was not primarily a direct reference.
“Civil War was a significantly character-driven narrative, showing the various levels of stress on these journalists.”
Even the journalists’ perspectives and actions mimicked and emphasized the work of real war journalists. After watching this film, I could only imagine the war journalists covering so many current real tragedies like the Ukraine-Russia war and the war in Gaza. The film made me think of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines back in the 1980s (where my mother is from). It reminded me of the history of the twenty-year-long authoritarian/dictatorship regime by Ferdinand Marcos Sr. While there was not a full-blown firefight in the final moments to push Marcos out of power, the tensions were just as high.
I really want to commend all of the war/combat journalists and all journalists who are able to capture similar stories of trauma and death. I believe audiences will come out of this film with a genuine appreciation for their hard work, bravery, perseverance and stoicism to continue doing what they do.
Civil War was a significantly character-driven narrative, showing the various levels of stress on these journalists. This was where the core cast shone in their acting. Give Kirsten Dunst an Oscar nomination now because her range of emotions as the stone-faced war photojournalist Lee was golden. Seeing this broken character attempt to pick up the pieces of her past self in the current time was haunting and breathtaking.
“Give Kirsten Dunst an Oscar nomination now because her range of emotions as the stone-faced war photojournalist Lee was golden.”
To have the young budding photojournalist Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) acting opposite of Lee was also a perfect match. It was a true representation of the master and student relationship that felt relatable and realistic. Wagner Moura (Narcos) as Joel was a very complex character too, him being someone who is portraying a war junkie of sorts.
To round off the core group, Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune: Part One, Devs) was such a wholesome character. He really brought the parent vibes with a glint of tragedy since he is also somewhat trapped in searching for the best scoops.
Jesse Plemons also proved that he did not need to have a longer on-screen part to make a long-lasting impression. He never fails to add tension to scenes, just take a look at his roles from Breaking Bador even a strange pick like the action-comedy Game Night. His portrayal as a racist soldier will be one of my nightmares.I have never been as tense as I was watching The Bear season one finale, strangely two different situations of fear vs social anxiety.
Civil War will undoubtedly be a must-talked-about film upon release. It is borderline provocative, a conversation starter and bold. The subtle hints of characters’ pasts revealed through the journey to Washington D.C. are similar to Joel and Elle’s journey in The Last of Us—but still not as much depth as the popular video game and TV series. It is a little ironic that Nick Offerman played a really heartfelt character on HBO’s The Last of Us, but in this film, he is quite heartless.
On sound design and scoring, the silent moments held great weight throughout the movie. When characters are shell-shocked, so is the audience. I felt like this choice made me sit with them in these devastating moments of high stress and chaos. Audiences will probably connect with the haunting silence most recently in Oppenheimer when the atomic bomb goes off for the Trinity Test. There were even moments of silence as we saw the camera shots being taken.
I would say the score was the only thing not memorable, but I can forgive it in place of the nuanced silent moments. Also, check out the map of the divided factions on the film’s social media, which serves as a companion to the film. I feel like this is a must-view map to understand the geographical landscape of the factions. I went in without seeing the map, and I only really understood the two most talked about factions: the Loyalists and Western Forces.
“Civil War really captured my attention with shock and awe moments because it resembles real-world issues and imagery.”
I walked away, peeking into the lives of war journalists, and I think audiences would be gripping their seats as I looked into the microscope of these characters’ snippets of time in their lives. With a runtime shy of 2 hours, it was a concise, tight snippet of a worst-case scenario that offers a slight reality of where America could be heading in the near future.
Civil War really captured my attention with shock and awe moments because it resembles real-world issues and imagery. It is not a romanticized war movie or action flicks like White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen. Rather, it is an intellectual examination, dissection and introspection of real-world views.
As A24’s biggest-budget film, it told a massive narrative. I found this film really bridged the realism and emotional impact better than Netflix’s attempt with Leave the World Behind—despite me liking parts of that film. I think it is movies like this and Civil War which have shown us that the world can be so disconnected, so much so, that the enemies we are facing are not even the ones we can see. It could be A.I. or it could be a hacker in a basement.
Yes, this motion picture is a cautionary tale, but it is still a highly unlikely one to happen—with the power of conversation and democracy in the Western world. There have been countless examples of authoritarian regimes, and many countries and places have overcome them. I do not believe anyone wants that. As long as this dystopian United States is not brought up in a Simpsons episode, I think it is safe to say the U.S. is safe for now.
