"Civil War" is a dystopian thriller film written and directed by Alex Garland ("Ex Machina", "Annihilation"). Starring Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny, it is an unfulfilled, superficial take on a rather deep, contentious topic.
In the midst of a second American Civil War, renowned war photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) meets up with her team of journalists consisting of Joel (Wagner Moura) and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson). After surviving a suicide attack in New York City, the group decide to travel to Washington D. C. in hopes of interviewing the President (Nick Offerman) before he is overthrown. As the group prepare to venture off, Joel allows aspiring young photojournalist Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) to accompany them on their lengthy journey, with whom Lee reluctantly decides to take under her wing. While the team drive through the war-torn states, Jessie soon learns from Lee that in order to become a credible photographer, she must overcome her fears in covering the carnage taking place right before her eyes.
Regardless of your personal beliefs, there's no denying that we are currently living in one of the most politically divisive times in the history of Western civilisation. Not since the 19th century has there been so much hostility that one would assume if things continue to escalate, the American superpower could very well break out into another civil war. Considering how much technology has advanced over the past hundred years, things could certainly take a turn for the worse with the possibility of neither side emerging as the victor. The 2024 film "Civil War" deals with this hypothetical scenario from the perspective of the risk-taking photojournalists in a lacklustre manner that fails to do justice to its intriguing concept.
In the first scene, we see the President of the United States practicing a speech he will be delivering as his State of the Union address to the entire divided nation. We watch as the President nervously stumbles his way through the words he will be using to assure the country that this conflict is under control, almost as though he does not believe everything he is about to say. It is then revealed that the President's words are nothing more than lies, as his adversaries are fast approaching Washington D. C. with the intention of taking the nation's capital for themselves. What was once the safe and dignified capital city of America is now shown to be a violent war zone, complete with gunfire, military vehicles patrolling the streets, and various bodies littering the landscape.
Though this opening does begin the film on a promising note, it finds itself unable to maintain this level of curiosity for the duration of its runtime. Simply put, not enough is revealed about the President to make the audience believe that such a man could credibly stay in power among this huge war taking place. To the film's credit, there are some hints dropped throughout the story regarding what he has done, like how he apparently abolished term limits (he is now in his third term in power) and disbanded the FBI. Yet is it never properly explained how he is now in danger of being deposed from his position after so long. How did he suddenly lose this much support? Which political party does he belong to and which one wants him out? Why is he fighting this war with only a small amount of his staff to protect him? The movie never tells us.
Soon after, we are introduced to veteran photographer Lee, whose graphic pictures taken directly on the field of battle have gained her worldwide notoriety. This attracts an admirer in the young Jessie, who aspires to work alongside her idol as the war rages on. While on their journey towards the nation's capital, Jessie becomes increasingly exposed to the very worst that the war has to offer, something Lee informs her is a necessary part of the job. It is clear the film is intending to show us just how much war can affect the on-site journalists as much as those actually fighting on the frontline, yet it never quite utilises this idea properly.
For instance, the relationship between Lee and Jessie is decidedly two-dimensional. At no point did it ever feel like Lee really cared about Jessie beyond her being a mere work colleague. There is only one scene where it felt like Jessie was learning something from Lee about human brutality but it is quickly glanced over and never mentioned again. All the potential was there to have shown these two growing closer as student and teacher, yet the film squanders nearly every opportunity available. It's hard to become attached to these characters when the situations they are placed in add practically no emotional weight to the overall story, and in a film that is supposed to examine the impact of war on people, this is a major problem.
In spite of these deeper issues, the film at least manages to get its wartime atmosphere right. Director Alex Garland places the audience right in the middle of the conflict, with the possibility of danger lurking around just about any corner. I especially enjoyed the way he shows Washington D. C. as a warzone, resembling early 2000s Baghdad rather than a safe capital city within modern Western civilisation. Soldiers patrol the streets, major monuments like the Lincoln Memorial are constantly under threat of destruction, and the President is reduced to hiding in the White House with limited protection from his staff. This is far from the clean cut image America has held onto for so long, having now descended far into chaos and disunity.
Unfortunately, Garland falters in the world building aspect of this superpower gripped in a civil war, as there is little effort put into why certain locations adhere to one political belief over the other. In one scene, the group of journalists stop by a seemingly normal town that has chosen to remain neutral to this war, with its citizens going about their daily business like nothing is happening. Instead of exploring this interesting concept, the main characters merely use this town as a brief pitstop and quickly move on somewhere else. This raises many questions, like why did this town choose to stay out of the war? How have they avoided being attacked from outsiders for so long? How are they not suspicious of this random group of people suddenly appearing in their town? Yet more important plot holes that are glanced over and never properly addressed.
Although their characters are woefully underwritten, both Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny try to make the most with the weak material given to them. Out of the two of them, Dunst is the biggest standout as Lee, whose frequent trips into the war torn locations of America have clearly taken their toll on her mental health. Here, it is shown that Lee has become almost completely desensitised to the bloodshed happening right in front of her, even barely flinching whenever a gun is fired in her presence. Dunst does a nice enough job portraying Lee's nuanced reactions to all this butchery, as this is nothing more than another day at the office for her.
On the other hand, Jessie's young, naive attitude towards her future career prospect is something that ends up defining her character throughout the whole film. At first, she is so shocked by what she is witnessing that it causes her to vomit and miss the chance to take a great photograph. Like Lee, Jessie also becomes desensitised to everything she sees, and in the process her photography skills improve drastically. Spaeny shows Jessie's emotional state becoming less and less of a issue, trading general compassion for on-location experience. As mentioned earlier, I just wish the film had explored Lee and Jessie's relationship better, as it would have made things more interesting to see their dynamic expanded upon throughout the story.
Given the current state of the world right now, it is a huge shame that a film like "Civil War" is unable to provide more than simply a curious look at how things could be. It has a lot on its mind about the future of America but it never expresses it in a manner that can leave a lasting impression. In my opinion, this concept would have worked much better as a miniseries rather than a condensed feature film, as this would allow for the necessary fleshing out of the characters and world building. Hopefully someone will run with that idea one day, because I would definitely watch that over this any day.
I rate it 5.5/10.
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