Civil War

Civil War

In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 109 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Jefferson White, Nick Offerman, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Tim James, Simeon Freeman, James Yaegashi, Dean Grimes, Alexa Mansour, Martha B. Knighton, Melissa Saint-Amand
  • Director: Alex Garland
 Comments
  • nlanders-77732 - 2 July 2024
    Anything for the shot
    I think because of the marketing and titling of this movie many people (myself included) expected something different. This movie is more than I expected it to be and while it may not speak directly to current politics it definitely has a lot to say about American society and humanity as a whole.

    The truth is that the western forces, the president, and the other factions are entirely irrelevant to the movies point. It is not about tyranny or rebellion or anything like that. We as viewers see the movie through the eyes of war photographers. The people who document the most gruesome and dangerous parts of human conflict, something the movie reminds us of by showing us the brutal shots these photographers take. The core of this movie is the documentation of a brutal and emotional conflict by our group of photographers.

    The excellent acting combined with the incredible cinematography and sounds design allow the viewer to focus purely on its central cast and their goal, an interview with the president in the waning hours of this conflict. Throughout their journey to get that interview they must travel a war torn America. This is where the movies commentary on how people treat each other really shines. The brutal dangerous encounters our photographers find makes apparent the meaningless nature of conflict. People killing each other over arbitrary reasons and identities becomes the defining part of life in the America we are shown in this movie. "What kind of American are you" is the best way to sum up what this part of the movie is talking about. The pointless, endless, and meaningless violence that has taken hold provides a powerful background for thinking about our political world and beyond that, what really matters in life? Is it politics, is it money, is it what state you are from?

    The second part of the movie comes after the death of the beloved Sammy, played by Stephen Henderson. Sammy at this point was the heart and soul of the group of photographers he held it all together for them. Losing him drains the characters of emotion and retracts a certain amount of their humanity. His death serves as the last straw in their desensitization to the violence surrounding them while also cementing their willingness and need to get the shot they were there for no matter what. So by the time the group arrives in DC ,following the Western Forces to the completion of their bloody mission, they are fully committed. So committed that when Lee (Kirsten Dunst) sacrifices herself to save Jesse (Cailee Spaeny) Jesse's immediately reaction is to photograph the moment leading to a series of gut wrenching shots as her friend and mentor takes a bullet for her. There is no time to mourn however and without a world her and Joel (Wagner Moura) are moving quickly to get the shot of the presidents impeding death. Joel actually has the chance to speak to the president who when asked for a quote pleads for his life. Rather than a humane reaction the audience is treated to the completion of the cycle of endless violence as Jesse takes the photographs of the presidents body being unloaded into by an assault rifle. And with the completion of the ultimate shot the movie ends. These photographers went from tough but human people to emotionless documentors of the meaningless and brutal violence that engulfed the country. Wholly consumed by their profession and with getting that shot.

    This movie patiently weaves together foreshadowing and pacing to build up to a thoughtful and emotional end. This is a movie that is expressing its perspective on people and society and how as a society we are losing our respect for the human person and for each others. It really makes you wonder what is important in life. Is it what you do everyday what task or profession one engages in or is it who you are deep inside.

    Also the action in this movie is incredible maybe some of the most accurate and well choreographed combat I've seen out to screen in a while it really does feel like a payoff to inch closer to the action all movie and finally see it in full force at the end.

    This movie is a slow burn with plenty of soul and meaningful yet complicated and open ended themes- wish we got more nick offerman but I think keeping him distanced is intentional to prevent the audience from taking a side in the conflict. 9/10.
  • psxp - 28 June 2024
    Film about a photographer not a civil war...
    Like other said, I felt cheated based on the trailers and imagery used for promotion. I was expecting more of a war movie. Instead , what I got was a really really slow movie about a war photographer and an aspiring junior photographer on a road trip that happen to bump into a few rednecks etc.

    Totally overrated in my opinion. But having said that the "civil war" portions of one side against the other probably had people thinking about things like mass killings, how society would get on if something like this was to happen etc.

    Special effects and stunts were ok. They Obviously had some budget for this film.
  • tarekali-19909 - 20 June 2024
    I will not forget this movie anytime soon.
    One of the best films I have ever seen is a searing indictment of the current free fall of the USA and an eerie harbinger of possible days to come. It takes tremendous courage to put together a film like this that challenges notions of comfort and stability and throws into question the existential assurance of the empire itself.

    Enemies foreign and extraterrestrial, natural and bizarre, are all welcome fodder on cinema screens, but enemies domestic tearing each other apart in the most brutal, inhumane manner is something many will find difficult to accept. The rage of the Western forces depicted here is unnerving-one wonders what factors today are seeping into the psyche to create such anger and what the trigger point might be. I have not felt this helpless in a movie journey since the peerless 'The Road' with Viggo Mortensen.

    The action sequences are breathtaking, like scenes of a modern warfare game. The urban combat endgame is breathtaking in tension and outcome. Visually stunning, this movie is a feast for the eyes across the entire landscape and journey of war-torn USA.

    I must give hats off to the cast. Kirsten Dunst delivers the mature, introspective performance of a war journalist who is deeply haunted by her demons and seeking a noble exit. Wagner Moura plays a jaded joker who tries to laugh or drink off his demons. Breakout star Cailee Spaeny lays a driven young protege who sacrifices all for the shot. Stephen McKinley is the calm voice of age and wisdom, no less courageous than the rest. I will not forget this movie anytime soon.
  • alishacuthbert - 17 June 2024
    Very good movie but the war story is missing
    This is a deferent concept so it is a great movie to watch in cinema halls taking about the story. There is one thing missing. This war has no plot story in the movie. Why this war has started and what needs to be done to stop it. That story is not clear. Maybe because they focus on press and their story. But as viewers we expect the answers to that too. If the movie has provided the reasons and the background story of the war. This would have been a A grade movie.

    Otherwise the story is great with realistic camera moves and explosions and shooting. Very shocking freaking fu***ing so su***king not dic****king around.
  • subhadeep-ghosh-sg - 16 June 2024
    Not just a movie - its a prophecy to an invariable future
    This is not a movie - its a prophecy.

    The extremely polarized and divisive politics, fueled by a multitude of biased news and media outlets will ultimately lead mankind to what has been shown in this movie.

    This applies not just for the US, but for other nations too.

    The more civilized we get, the technologically advanced we become, we are actually circling back to self-centered savages from where this march to civilization started.

    It won't take an asteroid, comet or meteor to cause the destruction of the present order. It will be such in-fighting and civil war that will one day invariably set the clock back to the stone ages.

    I don't think this will happen for the first time, on the contrary history will repeat itself.

    This obviously has happened earlier, or else, how do we explain the great pyramids, how do we logically deny that the Ramayana and Mahabharata were just mythical fiction.

    I firmly believe there was a time in the past, where human civilization reached its very peak, then the human nature to dominate and the human lust for power, simply caused everything to implode.

    Thus the reset button was hit, and everything started all over.

    The stone age, the bronze age, the iron age ... everything will recur again.