Grade: (8.4/10)
Civil War takes an unconventional approach in the hopes of avoiding polarization. The result is a solid film that polarizes anyways.
Plot (41/50)
Alex Garland took on quite the challenge trying to tell a story about a potential civil war that isn’t polarizing considering how political American public discourse is at the moment. His approach was to keep the politics to an absolute minimum and instead frame the film from the perspective of a group of war journalists. To no one’s surprise, the film was still polarizing, although not along the lines we were expecting. Ironically, the main divide was over the lack of politics. Some argue that by avoiding what is undeniably an important discussion, the film offers very little. Some even called it cowardly. And while the premise of these arguments is valid, I think the film works just fine.
The Divided States of America
Before we get into the film itself, let’s review the map. Following the President’s fascist turn that saw him sit a third term and abolish government agencies like the FBI, the US is split into four main entities: the Loyalist States, the Western Forces, the Florida Alliance, and the New People’s Army Alliance. The Loyalist States include most of the original 13 colonies and stretches across the Midwest into Colorado. Their loyalty is to the President. The three other entities stand against the President.
The New People’s Army Alliance spans mostly Northern states. The journalists don’t ever interact with them, but at some point, there’s mention of them closing in on D.C. The Florida Alliance includes a cluster of Southern states led by, you guessed it, Florida. That’s about as much as we got about them. Finally, the Western Forces consists of California and Texas. The logic here is that despite being politically polar opposites, both states view fascism as a bigger threat to the country. The journalists follow WF soldiers around because they uphold journalism whereas the Loyalist States are known to kill journalists.
Despite the high risk of death, Joel and Lee, a writer and a photojournalist currently residing in New York, are intent on making the dangerous journey to D.C. to interview the President before he’s defeated. It’s believed that the President’s demise is imminent, so there’s a sense of urgency to get moving. The two are joined by Sammy, a veteran reporter, and Jessie, a rookie photojournalist. Lee is concerned that the two aren’t prepared for the journey, but she reluctantly lets them tag along anyways.
Learning on the Job
Predictably, the group encounters horrors along the way. An early-run in with a group of armed men and their two hostages at the gas station shakes Jessie to the core. For the seasoned veterans, this was a good day. They were able to fill up gas without being threatened or attacked. Within the context of the story, this encounter sets the tone for the rest of the film. Lee’s conversation with one of the men at the gas station yielded an admission that is common in civil conflict: everyday people find themselves committing senseless violence against former friends, neighbors, or even family.
As the group gets closer to D.C., so does the danger. Lee and co. encounter a couple situations that play out very differently. The first is a skirmish between WF and Loyalist soldiers that ends with an execution of the captured Loyalists. Jessie is right in the thick of things. Despite all the blood and brutality, she’s far more composed than she was in the first encounter. Joel is there to keep her recklessness in check. The second encounter is a standoff between two marksmen. Policy doesn’t matter in this one. It’s a battle for survival, no more, no less.
Between these violent encounters, the group has a relatively peaceful time. They spend the night at a makeshift refugee camp where people are trying their best to go on with their lives. It serves as a reminder that life must go on no matter the circumstances. When people feel powerless to stop what’s going on around them, they focus on what they can control and hope for the best. The town the group comes across the next day is another example of this mentality. The people of the town have stationed guards on the rooftops to establish a sense of security. This allows them to go about their lives normally. In the face of chaos, people always converge towards order.
What Kind of American Are You?
The most memorable scene of the film comes well before the finale. Back on the road, the group encounters a couple of their journalist buddies, Tony and Bohai. Amidst the craziness and excitement, Jessie swaps places with Tony in the other car. Lee is right to worry because when they eventually catch up to Bohai and Jessie, they find them held at gunpoint. Lee, Joel, and Tony approach despite Sammy’s warning in the hopes of negotiating their colleagues’ releases.
Unfortunately for them, this particular group of militants can’t be reasoned with. If the open grave of dead civilians wasn’t evidence of that, the group’s leader very quickly makes it clear. First, he executes Bohai. Next, he proceeds to ask the group where they’re from. Joel is from Florida, Lee is from Colorado, and Jessie is from Colorado. Joel is on shaky grounds, presumably because of his ethnicity, but they’re deemed “real” Americans for now. Tony, on the other hand, is from Hong Kong, or “China” as the militant puts it. He’s definitely not American, so the militant executes him on the spot.
Joel, Lee, and Jessie would’ve probably been next had Sammy not intervened. He runs over a couple of the militants, but as the group is escaping, he’s shot by the third one. By the time the group arrives to a WF base, Sammy’s dead. The combination of a near-death experience and the death of a longtime colleague and friend is psychologically devastating. Lee and Jessie hold it together, but Joel had a breakdown. To make matters worse, they’re informed that an assault on the White House is imminent. By the time they reach the President, he’ll be dead. Sammy died for nothing.
An Unceremonious End
The remainder of the film follows the advance on the White House through the streets of D.C. The WF encounter some resistance, but it doesn’t take long for them to squash the President’s diminished forces. With his enemies closing in, the President makes a last ditch attempt to save himself. He sends a three-vehicle convoy out that’s swiftly crushed by the WF. They discover that the President was not in any of the vehicles soon after. Maybe he was hoping to use the convoy as a decoy so he could slip out while everyone was distracted. If that was the plan, it failed miserably. After the convoy was dealt with, the march continued.
With the WF now inside of the White House, a few loyal members of the Secret Service are all what stood between them and the President. In another pathetic late-ditch attempt to save himself, the President sends out his press secretary to sue for peace. The WF refuse to negotiate, and she refuses to budge, so they kill her and advance. A final firefight ensues in the halls during which, in a moment of recklessness, Jessie puts herself in the line of fire. Lee recognizes the danger and acts as a human shield for Jessie. Jessie captures Lee’s sacrifice and lays in shock as the WF eliminate what’s left of the Secret Service.
The President’s actual demise is rather anti-climactic. When the WF storm the Oval Office, their intent is to eliminate the President on the spot. Joel stops them so he can get a quote. “Please don’t let them kill me” are the President’s final words before he’s unceremoniously executed. Jessie captures the moment. Her work over this journey will almost certainly see her take Lee’s place as the most famous war photographer in the country.
Overall Thoughts
The experience of the everyday person is exactly what the film focuses on. Garland doesn’t delve into politics because policy usually gets lost on the everyday person early on in civil conflict. Policy is obviously at the heart of any civil war, so it’s worthwhile to examine what policies lead to this conflict. Garland may have avoided getting into any detailed political discourse, but he does at least pinpoint fascism as an existential threat to anyone who values democracy. The story flows well because he acknowledges this early on and remains consistent with his focus on journalism and the common man throughout the film.
Whether you agree with the structure or not, the film is well-executed. Civil War is a sort of war drama/thriller/action mix. Garland even adds some horror elements to great effect. The was plenty of suspense, and the deaths of Tony, Bohai, Sammy, and Lee all packed a punch. I appreciate the consistency with the danger levels rising as the group gets closer to the White House. However, the fact that they knew that they would encounter folks that would shoot them for being journalists and they didn’t arm themselves is incredibly foolish. It feels like a necessary plot device to imply real danger to the story’s protagonists.
Finally, it’s not lost on the me that the film’s climax is the scene that’s captured everyone’s attention. “What kind of American are you?” is the closest Garland comes to making a political statement. Aside from its harrow, the reason this scene stands out is because it acts as a direct message amidst a sea of implicit commentary. That the President’s demise then plays out almost as if it were an afterthought is further evidence of Garland’s commitment to the perspective of the everyday person. He may not have created a literary masterpiece, but I think it’s safe to say that he accomplished what he set out to do.
Character Development (12/15)
A big part of why this story works is the balanced dynamic between the film’s four prominent characters. Lee is the main character, but only by a margin. She carries herself very seriously and in a way that directly reflects her disillusionment. This is a direct contrast to Joel’s quasi-hedonistic chase of the next rush. Adding Sammy for cautionary experience and Jessie for reckless youth offers another contrast within the group. Like much of the film, Garland employs a simple yet effective formula. He puts four very different people in close proximity of eachother with enough overlap to make their interactions meaningful.
Journalism is one of those career paths that people generally choose with specific intent. It’s a cutthroat job with little financial stability that’s also sometimes dangerous. War journalism is even worse on the danger front, especially when you’re trying to engage a regime that doesn’t tolerate journalism. So why do Lee, Joel, Sammy, and Jessie go on with it? Each has their own reasons, but they all share a common commitment to the importance of free speech. They feel the public must know the truth about the world they live in. Otherwise, people won’t be able to do what’s right.
Why Continue?
Beyond freedom of speech, there’s some overlap between the characters’ values. Age and experience plays a big role, as it usually does. Take Sammy for example. He’s old and tired, yet he continues because he can’t stop. He fully accepts the risk of death, perhaps he welcomes it even. As long as he fights for a good cause, he seems willing to die for it, and he does. Sammy gave his life to save that of his colleagues. It’s an honorable death that shakes Lee and Joel to the core, but more on that later.
Lee isn’t as old as Sammy, but she’s similarly grizzled. She’s seen her fair share of destruction, and it weighs heavily on her. The reality is that there’s only so much a person can take before they start to break down. She too goes on with it because she can’t stop, and she too ultimately gives her life protecting her colleague.
While Lee and Sammy’s desensitization manifests itself in devastating disillusionment, Joel and Jessie’s desensitization leaves them searching for the next high. Joel, in particular, is quite vocal about this. Jessie is uncomfortable with her crude desire for a rush at first, but any reservations she might’ve had quickly dissipate after spending a few days with Joel. Jessie is also motivated by Lee. Lee is a sort of hero to her. She’s wanted to follow in her footsteps, and here she is working alongside her, even if their time together is ultimately cut short.
Mistakes Kill
When Sammy first asks to join Lee and Joel on their trip, they’re hesitant to take him in. They were worried that Sammy’s old age would make him an easy target. They thought his lack of mobility would get him killed. It turns out, what Sammy lacked in physical mobility he made up for in experience and intuition. And if not for his brave intervention, they would’ve been added to that desolate pile of corpses. Of course, Sammy had warned Lee, Joel, and Tony about engaging with the militant holding Jessie and Bohai. They ignored his council and tried reasoning with the militant anyways. That decision would end up getting Sammy killed.
Now to be fair, Lee and Joel felt compelled to approach the militant because they felt a sense of responsibility towards Jessie, and to a lesser extent, Bohai. They couldn’t just leave them to die. You can’t fault them for trying to save their friends. The real mistakes were made earlier. Bohai’s driving and the car hopping from Tony and Jessie were extremely reckless, especially when you consider that they acted this way in a known danger zone. This isn’t to take anything away from the fact that their deaths were completely unjustified. I’m simply trying to demonstrate the fine margins in this line of work.
Unfortunately, Jessie never got the memo, not even after this near-death experience. Lee was reluctant to take Jessie on their trip largely because of her inexperience. She was right. Jessie was reckless time and time again. She got herself in trouble every step of the way. Lee and Joel were able to keep her in check when the stakes weren’t as high, but she didn’t learn. Her poor judgement would ultimately cost both Sammy and Lee their lives.
Psychological Trauma
Age and experience also play a role in how the characters respond to trauma. Sammy’s seen the most, so it’s only natural that very little fazes him. Even in the one major moment we see him under pressure, he’s still fairly poised given the circumstances. There’s a sense of urgency and desperation in his tone as he warns Lee and Joel not to approach the militant, but that’s about it.
On the opposite end, Jessie’s lack of experience shows. Every horrific encounter is new to her, and she reacts accordingly. The trauma literally triggers a physical response, whether that be uncontrollable shaking or puking or an inability to fall asleep. She has a hard time processing the trauma, but to her credit, she does have the mental toughness to collect herself and carry on. By the end of the film, you can even start seeing the numbness setting in.
Speaking of numbness, at this point in their lives, Lee and Joel are beyond numb. Joel flashes signs of life, and I think it’s because he allows himself to break down every once in a while. We see him manically yelling into the sky after Sammy’s death. He was still on edge the following day, but by the time they got to D.C., he was locked in once again.
On the other hand, Lee is eerily dead inside. Her expression almost always features the same non-reactive, monotonic stare. She shows little signs of life, and that’s because unlike Joel, it appears she internalizes all of the trauma. That level of composure has certainly served her well in her career, but there’s a limit to how much a person’s psyche can handle. We see the downside of this approach when she starts breaking down in the middle of the D.C. assault. She manages to bring herself back from the brink, but her sacrifice not too long after leads me to believe that she couldn’t take any more trauma.
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- “We don’t ask, we record so other people ask.”
- For the everyday person, policy quickly becomes inconsequential during a civil war.
- No one really wins in a civil war. Senselessness reigns supreme. Ordinary citizens commit unfathomable horrors. People turn on their family, friends, and neighbors.
Acting (14/15)
Because the film spends so much time on the central four characters, it was crucial for the four respective actors to mesh together well, and they did. Kirsten Dunst (Lee) delivers an incredibly mature performance that allowed those around her to shine. Wagner Moura (Joel) was able to play off Dunst’s serious demeanor with a fiery, passionate performance. Cailee Spaeny (Jessie) was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Dunst’s subdued performance. Spaeny continues to impress with each passing role. Here, she was in complete control of her micro-expressions and emotions. She’s a star in the making.
Stephen McKinley Henderson (Sammy) might not have had as much screen time as the aforementioned actors, but he certainly made his moments count. His more animated no-nonsense attitude served as a counterbalance to Dunst’s cold attitude. And speaking of actors who did the most of limited screen time, Jesse Plemons absolutely aced his one scene. He was as menacing as he was composed. His performance is a big reason as to why that scene stood out to many people.
Cinematography (13/15)
The bird-eye view shots looked good in IMAX. Otherwise, the film doesn’t necessarily warrant an IMAX viewing. There were a few shots that stood out:
- Early on, there was a shot of Lee’s face half-lit that felt symbolic of her state of mind.
- There was a wide shot of the highway that featured a “Go Steelers” banner hanging on the bridge above. The shot stayed up long enough for me to then notice a couple of bodies hanging from the bridge. This was a great exercise in visual focus.
- The car’s headlights amidst the backdrop of the forest burning was a solid visual.
- The decision to muffle the sound while Joel was screaming at the top of his lungs after Sammy died drove home the agony of the situation. Having the soldiers continue to march on in the background as if Joel wasn’t even there further enhanced the scene.