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Civil War

This is Alex Garland's fourth film as director. He first wrote some novels, including The Beach, then moved onto writing films (often for Danny Boyle, though strangely, not The Beach), and then moved onto directing his own scripts. His debut as a writer/director was the excellent Ex Machina. Sadly, this looks more and more like a false dawn. His follow-up, Annihilation, had some promise but lacked something, maybe humour, maybe humility, maybe just an experienced head. His next film, Men, again began with an interesting premise, but rapidly disappeared up its own arse.

So, now to Civil War. First off, it's an improvement on his previous effort. It's set in the near future where the unnamed U.S. President (Nick Offerman) is scrabbling to save his bacon from the approaching Western Forces of California and Texas. It would appear that the 'United States' are much less united in this alternate reality. But here's Garland's proposal - this might actually happen, people! It's a cute flip on the insurrection issue - in this U.S., the rebels seem to be on the left, of sorts, opposed to those antler-wearing incels from the Jan 6th 2021 edition.

Said Pres has been in office for at least 3 terms (Aussies may imagine an American version of horrid little Johnny Howard), he's disbanded the FBI and has ordered airstrikes on his own citizens. So, let's say it's reasonable, though very unlikely, for California and Texas to join forces and attack the capital/capitol. Even Florida have a breakaway secessionist group. The fantasy is fun but Garland is more than hinting that this may occur if the Orange Twat gets back into power. He's never been backward in coming forward. All that said, there's no real mention of any policies or, in fact, the identity of the Democrats or Republicans. There are, to twist a shit-quote, 'bad people on both sides'.

The plot goes that photographer, Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and journalist, Joel (Wagner Moura) plan to get to Washington D.C. to interview the Pres before the rebels have their way with him. The direct route from New York to D.C. is blocked, so a more scenic path is chosen. Along for the ride are old hand journo, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and young photographer, Jessie (a 'best on ground' Cailee Spaeny). Getting there is more than half the fun. There are some solid scenes on the way to Washington D.C. but the climax is simultaneously overblown and micro - it seems to peter out a bit, albeit in a cacophony of gunfire.

The tension on the road trip is great, with a telegraphed generational handing over - Sammy has already virtually clocked out and Jessie is primed to take the reins from Lee. The fantastically nervy body pit scene with Jesse Plemmons (uncredited) is the catalyst for the spiritual trade - Jessie even tells Lee later that she 'has never been more afraid, but has never felt more alive.' From this point on, their relationship plays like an energy vampire and victim, Colin Robinson (from What We Do in the Shadows) with a Nikon FE.

This is about two-thirds of a good film, with some memorable scenes and a neat bit of counter-factual hypothesising. In general though, it struggles to get off the ground and has trouble landing the climax. Maybe Garland's claim that he's going to step back from directing might turn out for the best - he's certainly a better writer than director.

Civil War is still showing around Australia at time of writing (May 12 2024).

See also:

The war reporting angle is reminiscent of Michael Winterbottom's fantastic Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), and the journey scenes through suitably hellish landscapes bring to mind Garland's own script for the Danny Boyle film, 28 Days Later (2002).

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