Civil War

Civil War (2024)

Image From IMDB

I’m going to drop this in here as I hope Civil War is a dystopian sci-fi rather than a documentary a little ahead of its time. And, as someone who’s spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours watching Youtube videos on photography, I was never going to pass up the chance to chat about an Alex Garland movie staring Kirsten Dunst taking photos.

Civil War is about a bunch of war journalist trying to capture the horrors of a modern civil war in a broken United States while making their way to Washington in order to get the last interview with the President before he falls. They follow soldiers on the front lines capturing the killing first hand, all while taking in the war torn country around them. A dystopian road movie, during a war.

I will say from the offset that part of what I enjoyed about this movie is probably something others hated: I liked the vagueness. While a lot of things could be considered holding a mirror to the modern world, the movie never states any political parties, and Offerman’s President isn’t some Trump or Bush caricature. The movie even confuses modern interpretations more with Texas and California being alined. We don’t know if the President is Democrat or Republican, and I don’t remember any hints of it being either way. It’s a movie about where hate is taking us, rather than pointing a specific finger. I, for one, like that.

While there’s plenty of strong performances and stunning camerawork and landscapes, the heart of the story is Kirsten Dunst’s ‘Lee’ and Caliee Spaeny ‘Jessie.’ Lee is the veteran photography who’s seen and done it all, while Jessie is the weak stomached war photography just starting out. Lee doesn’t want to take her under her wing, but is forced into it, and eventually as things progress, Lee’s the one losing her stomach for war, while Jessie is finding her feet.

It’s a classic story in that sense and one I really like. I thought it unfolded beautifully, and you could see the beats as they were happening. Jessie starting to copy Lee’s exact movements in the climax of the film being a vast contrast to Wagner Moura’s Joel character literally holding her in place and puppeteering her at the beginning.

There was tension throughout, while also some wonderful photography in every sense of the word. The end was definitely ambitious and stretched the budget, and if I’m honest, I enjoyed the build more than the climax, but it was still a spectacular set piece.

The movie had plenty to say, but didn’t stop at any point to preach to us. There was a scene where Lee tells how she captured everything aboard in hope of preventing this happening at home, but, how could you not say that? (And the scene was acted really well)

It’s a terrifying movie in a lot of ways, and as I jokingly––hopefully––mentioned at the start, plays like a possible documentary. There’s maybe some intangible missing somewhere to make it an absolutely astonishing movie, but it’s definitely a great film in my eyes. Alex Garland, whether though his books or films, always presents something interesting, with plenty of moral questions, and Civil War is up there with some of his best work for my money.