Civil War
American has become embroiled in a modern Civil War. The government has all but been disbanded, and the US military have been at war with a group called the Western Forces.
The WF, the coalition of the states of California and Texas are planning on storming the capital, and a group of four Press reporters want to get there first before they assassinate the president.
With air travel no longer viable, the foursome travel along the war-torn and hostile countryside from NYC to Washington. Can they get there in time, or at all?
Direction
From start to finish, this is an epic, and visually stunning feat of direction from Alex Garland.
With a $50m budget, it feels like every dollar was wisely spent.
The dark gritty wartime is perfectly encapsulated throughout, with the violent brutal images that generally are not seen. Two moments stick out from memory, one is a very brief image of a man being tortured by being burnt alive. The other is the very graphic moment that Jessie is knocked into a mass grave and must climb her way out. Even I had to turn away at this point as it was hard to watch.
This is mirrored by such beautiful shots of the American landscapes at times, as well as the theme of photography that both the characters of Lee and Jessie have devoted their lives to.
Two such moments that come to mind are when Lee is lying on the grass while snipers are attacking them (and they are being ‘protected’ by the WF), she is concentrating on the flowers around her, the camera goes to focus on these “life” while ‘death’ is around her.
The other is when the foursome are driving through a bush-fire, and the fire surrounds their car. It is visually stunning, and shows that there is beauty within that can hurt us.
Cast/Characters
Kirsten Dunst plays Lee Smith, the main protagonist of the film, who is part of the four person ‘team’ who are heading to Washington to interview the President.
Wagna Moura, plays Joel, the reporter to Dunst’s Lee.
Cailee Spaeney plays the new generation photographer Jessie, who joins them on their journey.
Stephen McKinley Henderson plays Sammy, the more senior ‘mentor’ and opposing magazine’s journalist , who joins them too.
Jesse Plemmons has a very short, but very memorable role midway through the film.
Nick Offerman plays the President, who appears in bookends of the film.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Joel’s character, while somewhat hardened by what he has seen, still has the ‘adrenaline rush’ to want to see more. He has extreme highs at times with his uber excitement (following a raid where he witnesses the deaths of several WF team that he knows). He also has extreme lows, when following the encounter with two militia – who murder three of his friends.
Lee’s character is that of a world wise, and a seemingly famous photographer. She has been involved in wartime photography for years, and has become hardened by what she has seen, yet in her most vulnerable moments she lets what she has seen get to her.
Towards the end of the film, following the deaths of their friends, she becomes ‘war fatigued’ and shows severe PTSD. Massive spoiler here but *** SPOILER AHEAD *** her death at the end of the film felt unnecessarily cruel.
It was done to “pass the torch” onto Jessie, but it could have been more substantial if she had just walked away, and given her camera to Jessie, this would have been both a figurative and literal “passing”, and is my main gripe with the film.
Jessie is the ‘newbie’ who joins them, and is thrown into the horrors of the war from the beginning of the film. As the film goes on she goes from “not even being able to take a photo” to barely stopping to mourn the death of Lee, to get to the next shot.
What caused the war is never mentioned, however it is hinted that the President dismantled the government, dismantling the FBI, and changing the constitution to continue for a third term. He is unnamed and his political party is never mentioned. (I ‘did’ find some minor humor in the fact that Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson once said he would bring the government crashing down.).
Score/Soundtrack
At times there is a beautiful score, at times the wartime is silent and no sound is present. Other times songs that have no place in a film like this play over the wartime. It is out of place, but it works in the big picture.
Overall
From the near perfect direction from Garland, to the amazing performances from the four leads, and Plemmons brutal cameo; this is one of the best films I’ve reviewed in a while (you can tell by my lengthy diatribe).
I strongly recommend this one, but it is brutal to get through.
Despite my disdain for what occurs to Lee, I still rate this very highly.
4.5/5
Please check out my Podcast on this one