When it comes to cinema, there are only a few filmmakers who can provoke and stimulate the viewers time and time again and one of them is Alex Garland. Garland is the director behind a couple of movies that I like and find interesting, Ex Machina (2014) and Sunshine (2007) where he does not shy away from exploring difficult themes and presenting them in interesting ways but Civil War was just that, a message that probably fall flat. Civil War (2024) is his latest work and I dont mind when a production focus on trying to send a message but my problem with this movie is the marketing was telling a different story. The movie is based in a very trouble North America in the middle of the second Civil War and follows a group of war journalists. The cast features Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Cailee Spaeny and is mainly focus on themes of ethics and morality of journalism during war and conflict, if they have sold this from the beginning first would be very interesting at least for me and second at least my perception would not be false advertisement.
The movie does a good job at expressing how people and how journalist specially have to convert the war zone on their own canvas, there is a scene where Lee by Kirsten Dunst teach and explain Jessie by Caillee Spaeny how she has to capture the moment where a group of arm men are shooting each other and one of them gets hurt badly, the man is bleeding out on the floor while she keeps taking pictures, a very dramatic scene. Their main responsibility is to tell the truth instead of their opinion, the reason for this is so their work becomes a warning of things that could happen when there is war.
After the scene that I just describe and considering that the movie is not about War action then I think I paint the perfect picture of what to expect, its always disappointing entering the cinema expecting to watch a movie about certain topic just to find out you got the wrong channel, now you just sitting there probably force to watch whatever comes up on the screen. In terms of online rating I think the only reason why the movie did OK is because Kristen Dunst and Wagner Moura, it barely did a 7/10 between RTT and IMDB. I personally was pissed because they only gave Jesse Plemons like ten minutes of screen time and how almost everything bad that happens during the movie is Jessie's fault.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17279496/
- Platform: AppleTV+
The Story and Its Setting
The United States of America are divided in two, the Western Forces, a confederation of states that include Texas and California, making their way to Washington, D. C. The main characters of the film are Lee Miller (Kirsten Dunst), a professional war photographer; Joel (Wagner Moura), a writer; Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a senior reporter, and a rival journalist; and Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a young photographer. Their target is to get to Washington and interview the president in could probably be his last chance to talk to the rest of the country before the Western Forces arrive and take the capital.The group faces a long road trip where they have to face multiple dangerous situations through the destroyed terrain, armed men, some violent others just business men and even face rouge soldiers who just had enough of the situation.
The movie does a great job at creating this reality where the entire country is upside down, no body in charge and its every men for himself, many reviews have mention that this is not far from happening but I doubt it would that easy as they describe, I think that even though things are harsh right now its far from the conflict shown on the movie. Here is the contradictory part of the movie too, why taking the time to create this scenario and not use it? there is no background information about the war going on, how it started, no battle, the story is based towards the ending of a civil war, leaving the audience with a big cliff hanger.
Characters and Performances
This movie would be nothing without Kirsten Duns as Lee Miller, a war photographer who is a shell of the woman she used to be and is trying to hold on to her sanity. The protagonist, Lee, is played by Dunst and she delivers a very realistic performance and the audience can see the internal struggle of the character. The most important plot of the movie is the relation between Lee and Jessie, a young photographer, she looks up to Lee and wants to be just liker her, Lee is her hero and also prove herself but war is way more that she can handle with her little to none experience. Cailee Spaeny, who plays Jessie, captures the character’s vulnerability and to a certain level incompetence due to her lack of experience, been the villain and been the incompetent in a role are not easy task.The protagonist Joel portrayed by Wagner Moura is another reason why this movie stay up float, a very ambitious person but at the same time he wants to tell the truth to the audience. His relationship with Lee is rather hostile and they are always trying to front run each other but there is a certain level of professionalism and friendship that keeps them working together. Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Sammy is more of a realist who plays the role of a big brother to the other journalists while at the same time dealing with his own dilemmas, old men with lots of experience but his best moments are over. There is certain harmony between the characters that attempt to create certain balance between the bad marketing, lack of reason for the war happening and Jessie's fuck ups.
Themes and Messages
In essence, Civil War is a movie that develops around the principles of right and wrong and the price of being a journalist during the course of history. The characters are constantly faced with difficult choices, if they are to act, should they assist the needy or should they just stand back and watch? The movie doesn’t provide clear solutions, but describe these conflicts in a manner that would make the think about what would they do if it was them in that situation.The most memorable scene of the movie for m e is when the group of journalist end up splitting up on the road mainly due to them trying to loosen up a bit, they end up at the hands of a soldier, role play by Jesse Plemons; who is probably exhausted of the ridiculous war that to a certain extend and it happens in real life, none of them know why did it start, the soldier goes rouge and starts shooting everyone who he thinks is not on the same side of the America he is backing up. This scene really describe the craziness of war, when even soldiers snap, people become objects that you can eliminate at will with a single bullet and then throw them into a hole.
This movie might serve as an example of why we need to at least listen, keep our ear to the ground of whats going on and think further ahead, not necessary let the surrounding of whats going on directly affect us but at least listen. I feel like the movie might make the audience think about the consequences of war but at the same time not giving context of why this war is going on is a flaw that hurts that message indirectly, I think it would be a way more solid movie if at least someone during the movie say Sammy been the oldest one came up explaining why the country is upside down and how everything started. I think its an OK watch, one of those one time watch movies and sadly have to say I was really disappointed but life goes on, I give it a 6.5/10.
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