Civil War may just be the most brutal and thought-provoking film of 2024! It may just be the film that we all need to see in a contentious election year. I won’t lie that there’s a lot to unpack in the film. It’s one of those that you may have to see a few times to really understand the perspective. It’s ambiguous in nature, not rooting for one side or the other in a so-called futuristic American Civil War. The film at its core is seen through the eyes of journalists who are trying to report what they see and objectively show the facts to all sides. But I feel that the film is defined by one line… Kirsten Dunst’s character says at one point in the film that the job of a journalist is to report what they see so others can discuss and decide for themselves. And that is the true essence of a good photojournalist. If a photo is worth a thousand words, the photos throughout this film leave us with a lifetime of commentary and discussion. Even though the story may be fiction, the scariest thing is that it could be real some day and what director Alex Garland asks of us as an audience is to imagine that scenario while examining how we would react to the atrocities that can happen during a civil war when mankind reverts to its most brutal and animalistic nature.
This is a good film. It’s a film that needs to be seen before election day. I watched this movie, and it was almost like holding out a crystal ball and saying this is a possible future, what are we willing to do to make sure that it doesn’t happen. While the background story is about a Civil War in America, the real story is the power of the press and how it reports the facts for all sides. What makes the message clear is the performances Kirsten Dunst gives an Oscar worthy performance as a seasoned war photographer while Cailee Spaeny gives a great performance as the young naive reporter who comes into her own after seeing so much of the brutality of humanity. She was great as Priscilla Presley, but this is a better performance and certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination. But the real bravado comes from Wagner Moura as a seasoned journalist who’s willing to risk everything to get that one final story that can have the greatest impact during war. And as someone who grew up with Kirsten Dunst, remembering her and Interview with a Vampire and Jumanji, and having a crush on her in the Spider-Man movie, it’s hard to imagine her in her 40s, but she is certainly come into her own has an actress who is seasoned and a wise beyond her years. I truly believe that she will be nominated for an Oscar with this performance. Her character is hardened, but there’s a subtle compassion when she’s looking out for her team including the young reporter that used to be her and then with her one final great act at the end of the film. Good performances always make a better film and this is no exception.
We talked a lot about that with Oppenheimer last year and I feel like we’re going to be talking about the same thing with Civil War. But the true art within this film is the lofty ideals that Alex Garland puts forth. He’s know for making heavy films that ask big questions. While I do like his film annihilation, I thought EX-Machina was truly brilliant. And let’s not forget, he did write 28 Days later but dealt with how human beings could come together and save each other when the world was falling apart. As a student of philosophy can someone who likes to discuss big ideas, I’m always a fan of films that makes me ask deep and meaningful questions about life and humanity. That’s what Civil War does and that’s why it will be an important film in 2024. Maybe it would have been more pointed in 2016 or even 2020, but I feel this film is exactly but we need the selection here. I admit that this is a great film. Everybody is great even just the small performances like from Jesse Plemmons who plays a deranged soldier that has lost all sense of duty and honor.
As much as I like the film, it’s not without its flaws. I admit I’m a huge fan of backstory, I always want to know more about the characters and the overall story. What got everybody to the point that kicks off the story. As brilliant as it may be to view what’s going on in a civil war through the eyes of journalists and to speak to the importance of the press, all we really know in this movie is that there is a civil war, but what caused it? Why is the president serving a third term? It’s never really answered how all of happened, we just know that there is a civil war. I agree that the best kind of stories should be ambiguous that the audience should decide for themselves who is right and who is wrong, or more importantly to hopefully realize that it’s not a black and white is the president in this story the to true villain and he deserves to be taken down? Are states like Florida and Texas and California right for seceding and forming their own country? It’s okay to leave these questions up to the audience, but how can we expect to truly answer for ourselves if we don’t know the total backstory. Honestly this is just my biggest critique of the film as I don’t know enough of what got America to the point of Civil War.
We don’t have enough data to make an objective conclusion on which side is right. Now it’s true that it’s not the job of a journalist to make those distinctions, just report the facts and that’s what the characters are doing, but we clearly see throughout the film that there are villains on both sides and that is truly evident (Spoiler) when the president is attempting a peaceful surrender and negotiation, and the other side won’t hear of it while attempting to execute him. Sure, I understand what the director is trying to make us question, is that the right thing to do or are they in the wrong because even war criminals are tried before the world. Nazis were tried at Nuremberg. Adolf Eichmann when captured, was tried before the world in Israel. I just feel like there should be more of a backstory to explain why there’s a civil war. A great example of how to tell a backstory is The Road Warrior with Mel Gibson. During the opening credits there is an introduction on why the world fell and everybody is living in a dystopian world. It was brief but I gave the audience enough of a backstory to explain the time and setting of the story.
However, despite my complaints about not having enough of a backstory, Alex Garland has crafted a wonderful story that is shown through the realism of photos taken by journalists. They captured the moments perfectly about the destruction of our country and the loss of our humanity. We see the story through the lens of photojournalists and that’s brilliant. It’s also a great nod to the power of the press. But the true driving force for what makes the story great are the performances. Everybody does an outstanding job. Civil War is one of the best movies of 2024 and it will certainly be up for discussion during award season. Who knows if it is the best picture of the year, it is certainly one of them. But the director has crafted a thought-provoking story with a lot of themes that will keep us talking throughout the year. This is a film we will discuss. It’s not a film we will easily forget. And if this is truly Alex Garland’s last film, he is going out on top. About every 10 years we need a good thought-provoking film that, even if we don’t watch it over and over leaves us as an audience re-examining things in our society. I think the big theme within this film is showing us the dangers of losing our humanity even in the face of war. I love Kirsten Dunst as an actress, and I think she’s given a lot of stellar performances; this is certainly one of her best. There will certainly be a lot to unpack and a lot to discuss with this film and we may all need to watch it more than once. Who knows, maybe this is the Citizen Kane of our generation. I highly recommend Civil War and it’s a great film to see on the big screen. The seams are intense and make you feel like you are right in the film, especially in the last act where armies are invading DC and storming the White House! Yes, it’s worth the price of a movie ticket! Alex Garland has made another masterpiece and I hope that he is recognized in the awards season for it.
