The brand of A24 is about as strong as a filmmaking business in the modern era could be. They have a membership (of which I’m still not sure what is offered), a merch store, and legions of alleged cinephiles on Letterboxd who will go see anything with the A24 logo in front of it. But, now the company is in the position where they can’t make an endless series of critical darlings that make no money, and they need some genuine commercial successes. Alex Garland, notable for having directed A24’s terrific Ex Machina, as well as films like Annihilation (pretty good) and Men (unwatchable), was tapped to write and direct Civil War, which is opening on thousands of screens this upcoming weekend, and will be shown in premium formats. I am very interested to see how this is going to go.

Civil War follows four journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Cailee Spaney) as they attempt to travel from New York to Washington DC, in the throes of a modern-day Civil War. Texas and California have somehow stricken an unlikely alliance, wishing to secede from the rest of the country. And on their journey through war-ravaged America, they encounter groups of citizens who are flat out ignoring what’s going on, people who have broken off into their own individual sections of warfare, and all of them unsure of what’s being fought for in the first place.

Civil War gets points for being a monumental step up for Alex Garland, after the utter failure that was Men. I left Civil War in a bit of a daze last night, feeling very upset, and terrified about the state of the country I live in, near anxiety attack-level about the upcoming election. I feel like this film is supposed to scare the living daylights out of the viewer. And I do think everyone should see this because it’s a cautionary tale with a very important and compelling message. However, therein lies the problem that keeps this film from being the important historical document it could be.

The messaging in Civil War is meant to be ambiguous. It was clear to me this is a story about the hell that breaks loose after two political sides can no longer coexist. However, it’s important to note Alex Garland is a British filmmaker, and this film could be interpreted as a global depiction of what American politics has become. For a movie about a modern day Civil War, the film is curiously apolitical. It is just vague enough about who is responsible for what, that it has the potential to give the worst people in the audience the ability to make it whatever they want it to be. This is alarming and potentially dangerous. And since that’s what we have going on here I question if this movie is really saying anything at all. 

I watched it with my own perception of the world depicted in this film and how frighteningly close that all feels. I know what I think this film is about and who is responsible for what, but again, it is not outside the realm of possibility to have a different read on this film. I thought a lot about how we all rewatched Contagion when the pandemic was happening and how people in America who don’t see the point will just boot this up when another Civil War happens. I also thought a lot about January 6th and how the imagery in this film brought me back to that day. And while this was ultimately a powerful viewing experience for me, the more you think about the implications of this film on the way home and then later, the more it kind of falls apart.

I will say the performances are strong. Kirsten Dunst is tough, world-weary and kind of broken down by the world around her. Cailee Spaney infiltrates her way into this group because she admires the Dunst character, and she’s also beaten down by the world in which she lives, but has just enough wide-eyed optimism to make her think there’s a future in this world. Wagner Moura, an actor I was less familiar with, is also doing very good work here. And it’s widely agreed upon that Stephen McKinley Henderson makes every movie he’s in better. We also have one single terrifying sequence in which Jesse Plemmons steals the show.

Overall, Civil War is an above-average action thriller, with great performances, cinematography and sound design. It offers a bleak view of humanity and a horrifying image of a potential future we could be looking at in this country. However, I wish this film had the courage of its convictions enough to be blunt about the message. Because now is not the time for ambiguity. Ultimately, I do think this film will spark a lot of very interesting conversations and will hopefully be eye opening for the people who need to hear this message, if they’re willing to not accept the message as whatever they want it to be. I guess we’ll wait and see.