Civil War (2024)

Gripping Dystopian Combat Film - Civil War review by GI

A chilling dystopian action film from director Alex Garland, a director of unique vision, and a film that will possibly divide audiences although as a cinematic experience it's visceral and an assault on the senses. Set in the near future the USA is embroiled in a civil war where the states of Texas and California have united to fight a tyrannical President (a cameo from Nick Offerman). The film doesn't give us much if any political context for the causes off the war although there's the inevitable allegory to Trump albeit a tentative one. This is a narrative around the effects of conflict and close proximity to combat. Kirsten Dunst plays Lee, a veteran combat photo journalist, who has become somewhat immune to the violence she witnesses although she is haunted by the past. She and her colleague are intent on a perilous journey across America to try and get an interview with the President, a risky enterprise as journalists have been summarily executed in Washington DC but as the President appears close to defeat they want the scoop. Tagging along are a fellow veteran journalist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and Jess (Cailee Spaeny). Jess is terrified by what she sees and Lee becomes a reluctant mentor to her and the film focuses on Jess' emotional arc as she becomes more and more a war junkie. With a road movie structure the travellers go from episode to episode some of which are very traumatising and violence is ever present. This is a violent and at times uncomfortable film and the combat scenes and set pieces are realistic both visually and aurally. This film captures the chilling and terrible momentum of war in a way that Saving Private Ryan (1998) did for the war film genre and in the character structures it reminded me of The Hurt Locker (2008) in the depiction of the numbness to horror and the addiction to the rush of combat that both Lee has and regrets and Jess is obtaining on the journey. An impressive film and one that I'm sure will gain accolades as time goes on.