Film Review: CIVIL WAR (2024): Alex Garland’s New Film is a Harrowing Journey into the Complexities of War and Journalism

Civil War Review

Civil War (2024) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jesse Plemons, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Tim James, James Yaegashi, Dean Grimes and Alexa Mansour.

Civil War is a remarkably executed film that doesn’t have any fear of pursuing the disturbing themes it so bravely tackles. It’s directed by Alex Garland and has authentic feeling scenes of chaos and gunfire during the last twenty-five minutes or so in which the movie starts to get closer to the answers the audience will anxiously be awaiting to find out from the scenes which precede it. Garland has crafted an ambitious project that is relentless and harrowing in its exploration of the lengths people would go to fight for what they think is just. What’s even more impressive is how the movie zeroes in on journalism and the audacity that reporters could possess to capture the truth.

Set in a frighteningly realistic potential future, Kirsten Dunst plays the lead journalist, Lee, who is wearing a special vest that separates her as a member of the press from those engaging in a violent civil war. Lee is getting into the violence with her camera in front of her to take photographs of what is occurring. She is working alongside fellow reporter, Joel (Wagner Moura). The opening scenes are vivid and frightening as the movie details the gritty aspects of a potential future where most of society has been either killed or gone into isolation to hide from the harsh realities of this war.

Cailee Spaeny portrays a would-be journalist named Jessie who Lee takes under her wing as Lee allows Jessie to tag along with her and Joel on a mission to capture the realism of the war which is going to soon be making its way to the White House in D.C. Spaeny is so great in this role that I didn’t recognize her at first. Having delivered a fine turn in last year’s Priscilla, Spaeny proves she’s just as strong an actress without her unique hairstyles backing her up (like they did in Priscilla). The character of Jessie is so compelling to watch that pretty soon, I recognized that the actress playing her was Spaeny and it’s a complete 180 from the actress’s work in last year’s masterwork that was Priscilla.

Also along for the ride is Sammy (the always reliable Stephen McKinley Henderson), an aging man who probably can’t move too fast but wants to be involved in the action with the journalists, for whatever reason. As the film shows this unusual crew driving around on empty roads in a car that marks them as “press,” these characters all probably know that their safety is certainly not guaranteed but the seasoned Lee seems to be the smartest of our bunch and the one who is most likely to have the skills to survive the war which has complex politics at the center of it.

Then, something interesting happens. Jessie starts to come more into focus as a character as she learns the ins and outs of photography from her mentors and tries to stay safe as violence erupts at any given moment. There are a number of powerful scenes such as when the bunch encounters a vicious man (well played by Jesse Plemons) who guns down some friends of the journalists that the crew encounters on the road.

One scene has Jessie maneuvering her way from one moving car to another. She is becoming a risk-taker and is consumed by her journalistic integrity after seeing the professionalism of Lee and Joel. Sammy is not on this journey for no reason and will play a pivotal role in helping the reporters get out of a tight situation. Another intriguing sequence has Jessie and Lee looking at clothes in a store they find that just happens to be in business to keep the clerk who works there from going insane in the middle of the chaos that is being endured around her and the entire country.

Dunst plays the wise master of her craft to perfection. The actress never hits a false note in one of her best on-screen performances to date. Wagner Moura has some difficult scenes late in the picture and handles them with extreme precision. But, this is Cailee Spaeny’s movie from the moment she appears all the way to the film’s startling and powerful concluding sequences. Spaeny develops a character who, at one point, ends up mixed in with a bunch of dead male bodies. She vomits in the car afterwards. The film tracks the development of Jessie as she becomes a true professional in her chosen field of specialization. There’s no turning back from this character and her integrity is both admirable and frightening. It’s one of the best portrayals of a young journalist featured in a motion picture.

Nick Offerman plays the President of the United States. Though his screen time is limited, the actor makes the most of the brief moments that he has in the picture. By the time this movie takes us to the White House, audiences will be fully invested because of the fact that the film develops the situation and the characters so well. This film builds tension efficiently and effectively as it finally gets to the ending scenes which will devastate and fascinate simultaneously.

Civil War is a wrenching and intense movie. Garland lays out the world-building very interestingly. As the movie slowly progresses to its violence in the mid-section and the conclusion, there is a lot of interest in why Lee becomes a bit apt to making a misstep In order to preserve the integrity of Jessie’s ambitions. Dunst and Spaeny are a beautifully teamed pair whose bond becomes front and center in a picture that is very unique and very compelling.

Garland has crafted the type of movie that doesn’t soothe the viewer at the end. Rather, it makes the audience seek answers of their own as to what one would do if something happened in real life similar to what happens in the picture. Let’s hope that anything close to what happens in this film doesn’t ever happen. Is getting the truth as important as life itself so that future generations can learn what has happened in the past? Civil War ultimately raises more questions than it provides answers for but is a wrenching movie that is highly recommended.

Rating: 8.5/10

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