(3 / 5)
The twist is that you wouldn’t expect something this straight-up from Alex Garland.
This is a cautionary tale of what it would be like if the USA descended into civil war, from the perspective of hard-nosed photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), covering the chaos around them.
If not for having been written and directed by Alex Garland (Men, Ex Machina), the film would probably be satisfying enough — but this is arguably much tamer than his previous work in terms of being devoid of any profound twist. I actually ended up inventing my own twist, thinking I’d cracked it, amazed at the cleverness of it all, only to research it later and discover I was the only one who made this particular connection. Not to mention the director’s own words about the film contradicting my theory. No spoilers here, so if you watch the film and wonder what I concocted, let me know 😉
Kudos to Garland for not unnecessarily stoking the fires of real-life politics — no Republicans or Democrats are mentioned here. The dividing lines of each side of the film’s conflict are laughable, which further cements just how arbitrary their perceived differences are.
The majority of the film is captivating and tense, with a bombastic soundtrack to boot. I did find myself slightly bored during some of the combat scenes, though.
Cailee Spaeny also features as a budding young photojournalist, recently starring in Priscilla Priscilla.
To be precise, I rate this 3.2/5 but it has been rounded down to 3.
Civil War premieres in Sweden on 17 April.
Photography © Murray Close