Spoilers Civil War (2024) grade and discussion thread

Civil War is a 2024 dystopian action film written and directed by Alex Garland. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Nick Offerman. Its plot follows a team of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating Second American Civil War, which has engulfed the entire nation.



In the near future, a team of journalists travel across the United States during the rapidly escalating Second American Civil War that has engulfed the entire nation, between the American government, the separatist Western Forces of Texas and California, the Florida Alliance, and the New People's Army. The film documents the journalists struggling to survive during a time when the U.S. government has become a dystopian dictatorship and partisan extremist militias regularly commit war crimes.



Official Movie link

 

Saw this movie yesterday and, Geez, what a gut punch. And I'm not even a US citizen!

Seeing how many often talk too much about war (if not actually civil war!), this film is a great reminder of the horrors of war. We often imagine it far away from us in some remote place only on TV screens, but seeing it in places familiar to us makes us understand its inhumanity.

Highly recommended and worth seeing, not only for the themes covered but from a technical point of view, a dry film with no frills. I liked a comment on Youtube: "In theaters in the US on April 12th and in the rest of the country on November 5th".

 

I'm really looking forward to this film because I'm such a big fan of Alex Garland's work. The reviews I've seen have made it clear that the film doesn't make the division of sides obvious with any real world political standings, instead focusing on the larger themes of dissent. That alone intrigues me.

Unfortunately, I have no idea when I'll get a chance to see it. I may have to wait for streaming.

 

Same here. My wife dislikes going to movies in general and she has no interest in seeing this. But I'm definitely intrigued about how this will be treated.

 

It looks like I saw a world premiere!

If you have any non-spoiler questions, just ask!

 

How was Nick Offerman as the president? My only real concern about this is the fact that he's always, for the most part, played comedic, buffoon type roles. It's hard for me to see him as a serious president.

 

Spoiler:

Spoiler

We see him very little. A press conference at the beginning, but it's on a TV in the background and no one even pays much attention. Then at the end, but I found his scene and interpretation very fitting with the context of the film. I can understand the artistic choice to show him so little, to avoid giving him any political connotation.

 

Likewise, my work schedule is very fluid at the moment and I have a few other pressing commitments in my life I need to see to. Hoping I can catch this in theatres all the same though.

 

This has intrigued me since I first heard about it, but I'll probably wait for streaming to watch it. One of my biggest concerns at first was what the politics of it were, but it sounds like they leave all of that rather ambiguous, so that's a relief.

 

I saw the IMAX trailer at my 3D IMAX showing of Godzilla x Kong today. The trailer in IMAX looked great.

 

It's interesting how many in the US talk about the Civil War as if it happened yesterday. Here in Italy (and on average in Europe) practically only historians and enthusiasts would talk about some war that occurred in the 19th century as a recent news event.

 

I'm somewhat torn, on the one hand I love Alex Garland's work, but on the other I've seen a lot of stuff at the cinema lately so may need to delay this and hope it stays in UK cinemas for a few weeks (or alternatively just decide to bit the bullet and go see it!)

Still hoping Garland doesn't stick to his directorial retirement.

 

Perhaps that's because there were a couple of pretty big wars on that continent during the 20th century? Plus additional internal conflicts in Spain, Greece, former Warsaw pact nations, plus a cold war.

In contrast, the US Civil War (also called The War Between States, The War of Northern Aggression, and the Second American Revolution) was the last major conflict fought on the North American continent. There's not been another war since to take precedence in the minds and hearts of Americans. Plus, it can be argued the cause(s) of the Civil War still exist.

 

There's not been another war since to take precedence in the minds and hearts of Americans.

Huh? What about World War II or the Vietnam War?

I understand what you are saying, however, what you said seemed off to me.

Our country has, since the American Revolution, been at the edge of a cliff. It was the threat of an internal conflict in the 1780s that brought about the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

From Britannic,
Constitutional Convention | History & Compromises | Britannica

"Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays’s Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–September 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation."

From another article, it would seem that economic issues were one of the key factors to the American Civil War. There were fundamentally two different economic systems in the US at that time and, in the end as history has shown, only one of them could prevail.

Causes, Costs and Consequences: The Economics of the American Civil War - Essential Civil War Curriculum

If there is another civil war, I believe it will have some of its causes in the current economic situation. We have two different economic realities - what the media, the government, and Wall Street believe about the economy and what Main Street America believes about the economy. There is a growing and expansive disconnect between the two. Quoting from an old TOS episode, " There's a mile wide emptiness between you and me". and both sides are losing the ability to reach the other. I believe it is only a matter of time before there is a violent break.

 

The Civil War occurred because, in the 1860s, most Americans thought of themselves as citizens of their states first, and of the national republic second. Elites were deeply rooted in their own states, most people lived their whole lives in their home state, and state governments were more important to most people than the federal one.

Today, that situations is completely inverted. Many Americans have family spread across the country, many have lived in several states, and, thanks to stuff like passports, Social Security, Medicare, etc., people are heavily reliant on the federal government. Elites can move most of their assets digitally from one state to another in days, if not minutes. The military, meanwhile, is more connected and answerable to the federal government than anyone in the 19th century could have imagined, and troops stationed in military bases are from all over the nation. If a state legislature passed legislation to secede, the military bases would laugh at them, and then pick up the Pentagon's call. In short, there is no remotely plausible scenario of another US civil war that doesn't start with the total breakdown of the federal government.

This movie, meanwhile, feels like The Hunt all over again - a grabby premise that makes all sorts of pre-release headlines and clickbait, turns out to have nothing incisive or even really controversial to say (because that would require it to commit to favoring one real-world political side), and then vanishes upon release, never to be heard from again. Perhaps. We'll see.

 

From what I've read it sounds like the movie is more focused on the how the war effects the characters than on the politics of the war, so people going in expect some kind of political commentary are going to be very disappointed.

 

Then you understand I specified on the North American continent. Americans can't walk out their back door and literally be at battle sites in Vietnam or from WWII the way they can the Civil War.

Yes, there are or were some Americans that came home but never stopped fighting the Vietnam War, never made peace with Japanese or Germans people, and so forth. But those individuals struggling with all those 20th and 21st century conflicts aren't facing daily reminders of those conflicts as part of their daily lives or cultural heritage. The Confederate Stars and Bars flag was incorporated into the state flags of many southern states. Current active military bases are (until recently) named after military leaders from both sides. Only recently have monuments to the Confederate States been torn down.

Thank you for understanding that, had Vietnam conflicts or WWII battles been fought in the US, and if there were graves and monuments and "heroes" of the Viet Kong or Nazis within walking distance of American homes, that it might be more apparent some Americans are still fighting those conflicts with the same passion they use to continue to perpetuate Civil War

 

I just saw the movie. It was disturbing to watch. I hope it never becomes a reality. I know that each U.S state has its own military like the National Guard and State Militia forces. That might explain why the rebelilous states could have accumulate an army so quickly.

Jesse Plemons portrayal was both scary and good because it was very realistic in how certain soldiers would behave during wartime. The combat scenes were excellent. I have served in my country's army and the protrayal of soldiers in action was realistic in my opinon. In my country's army there is a saying, "You wait to rush and you rush to wait." The movie showed that.

Overall a very good movie. Not plot heavy but it has a theme and a journey for the protagonists to undertake.

 

Looks like I missed the IMAX window for GxK and this is replacing it. I guess they license these things somehow so there's only ever one feature showing at the premium screens?

 

Well, yeah. But to release the movie at (almost) the height of a presidential election season, especially when one candidate is an unrepentant insurrectionist, feels like clickbait writ large.