What if the United States had a modern civil war? The 2024 film “Civil War” tackles this premise, following a crew of photojournalists as they make the deadly trek to Washington, D.C. as they attempt to get a picture and interview with the president. Along the way, they face the horrors of war.
The movie was directed by Alex Garland. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as the journalists. The film was distributed by arthouse studio A24, also known for films such as “Midsommar,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Lady Bird,” and “Priscilla.”
Highs
Dunst and Spaeny both deliver outstanding gripping performances. Dunst plays Lee Smith, a jaded photojournalist hardened by the war. Her performance is gritty and complex, creating an enduring protagonist.
Spaeny, who also previously starred in A24’s “Priscilla,” plays an aspiring photojournalist named Jessie. Her performance is wide-eyed, intriguing, and captures fear well. Her and Dunst play off each other well as Lee becomes a reluctant mentor to Jessie.
The movie is gripping and tense. There’s a realism to how violence is used, emphasizing an anti-war message. These horrors are made relevant for an American audience as this version of America looks exactly like ours, but if it was destroyed by war, making it impactful as it literally hits close to home.
Along with the discussion of war, the film emphasizes the role of photojournalists, showing how dangerous their job is. Bombs do not care about journalistic privilege or neutrality. These characters are constantly facing death, creating a suspenseful watch.
Appropriately, for a film about photojournalists, the cinematography is brilliant. Combining realism, emotion, subtlety, and horror. It understands the importance of visual storytelling. The visuals are striking and the effects are intentional.
Lows
The film has a major fatal flaw in how weak the world building is. Though it is about a civil war, the viewer never learns why this civil war is actually happening. Almost the entire conflict is shrouded in mystery.
While much of the character and camera work feels intentional, the world building feels slapped together. The movie avoids discussing real political issues beyond small pieces of throwaway dialog and one scene blatantly dealing with xenophobia. It is especially confusing when the war is divided randomly among four parties: states loyal to the president, the Western Forces, the Florida alliance, and a peculiar alliance between California and Texas.
Perhaps this was done to make the messages of “Civil War” accessible to anyone no matter their political affiliation, but it also hinders the message. Being anti-war is not enough if you’re afraid of actually talking about war.
It also weakens the photojournalist’s story as it is not clear why their work is actually important. War photojournalism can do great good by making the public aware of current issues. It can also be exploitative and/or misinformative if done irresponsibly. The characters in the movie are complex and at times morally gray, but there’s a huge piece of them missing without understanding their motives. It’s not even clear why they want the president’s photo and interview, making the stakes themselves vague.
Along with weakening the themes, it also weakens the immersion. Any time the random tidbits of world building are referenced, it creates more questions that distract from the main plot at hand. Yes, it is good when a movie makes the audience question things, it can create an interactive experience when done well. But when the questions being asked are about basic world building, it comes off as lazy.
Verdict
“Civil War” is a gripping tale about war with strong acting, but weak world building. It leaves an audience with many questions ranging from important questions about journalism and violence, to the basic lore of the movie. “Civil War” is a well-crafted, thoughtful, dystopian commentary that says little about war.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for The Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since the summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
