I HAVE BEEN SKEPTICAL OF ALEX GARLAND’S “CIVIL WAR” SINCE IT WAS ANNOUNCED. But this wasn’t the movie I was expecting.
“Civil War” follows four journalists who are hoping to speak to the president as everyone is waiting for a final push from the Western Forces into Washington, D.C. As they make their way from New York to D.C., the more seasoned Lee helps the young Jessie find her footing as they navigate a wartorn American landscape.
The performances are all topnotch.
The interplay between Kirsten Dunst, Vagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny and Stephen McKinley Henderson is fantastic, with each of them bringing something special to their characters.
But the standout is definitely Jesse Plemmons, who is absolutely terrifying in his brief time on screen.
This movie is largely nonpartisan.
Not in a “very fine people on both sides” way, but that the sides don’t feel particularly tied to one political ideology or another. While some may find that cowardly, I think couching it in partisan terms would have made the story feel more like a caricature of war rather than showing the pain and devastation that armed conflict brings to everyone.
This feels like a movie about a war in America rather than the American Civil War imagery that some partisan hacks want to present citizens with.
Garland ’s work always impresses me on a technical level, but leaves me cold when the film ends. I didn’t feel good when “Civil War” ended, but I did feel something. I think what people feel after watching this will be informed by their own experiences and beliefs. More than anything, this movie made me thankful for those who do the work to remind us of the reality of war —and that the bloodlust of those with power is often paid for by those without.
ALISE CHAFFINS is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing heropinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack
