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Civil War 2024 ★★★★
Alex Garland: So I was thinking of doing this war movie about a civil war in America.
Studio exec: Great idea. Keep going.
Alex Garland: It's all about this press photographer who's worn down by her job and became pretty jaded.
Studio exec: Sounds good. Who would you see play this part?
Alex Garland: Well I was thinking of Kirsten Dunst.
Studio exec: Good idea. (reflects) Wait, what? Lux Lisbon? The sweet, bubbly girl from Eternal Sunshine?
Alex Garland: That's what we're going with.
Studio exec: (exhales) If you say so.
In the days of John Carpenter and his Escape-movies, this would feel like pure sci-fi. Now, after the storming of the Capital, it comes across more as a cautionary tale. We never get an explanation for what started the war or why they want the president, let alone what he stands for. Only the consequences. We are at war, deal with it. How quickly things can go from (relatively) peaceful to utter chaos. With the camera lenses ready to capture the horrors of war.
Which brings me to my main point: Garland really did some excellent visual work here. With the aformentioned photographs capturing the madness of this conflict and with the wordless moments like the shock when Sammy dies (after his heroic rescue that costed him). Some people will hate this, but I think it visually really worked. The shot of Jessie in the mass grave makes for a haunting image. Or the random executions, like for example at the gas station. The way that one guy casually remarks he knows the guy who he is about to shoot gave me the chills. Same with the “What kind of American?”-line from all the trailers. You can taste the hositility and the distrust there. Brr. That's a long way away from what Barack Obama once said about how there is no conservative or liberal America, but the United States of America.
On a side note: I wonder how people who grew up in the final days of former Yugoslavia look at this story. What with a lack of two definable camps, but rather a plethora of different factions where it's never really which one the person in front of you adheres to or what is the safest way to conduct yourself. Or Syria, for that matter. No matter how somber or depressing this flick gets, reality still trumps fiction.
The cast is excellent. Kirsten Dunst is really great, with her ever tired look and her persona of (trying to) not letting what she sees get to her. Wagner Moura also shines as her partner in crime, using humour and weed in order te keep it together. I also liked the dynamic between Lee and Jessie, though everyone who's seen a few war movies can see coming that one of these ladies will die by the end of the film (with another touching visual to boot). And between this and Black Mirror, Jesse Plemons is really good at playing sociopathic assholes.
Entertaining and very relevant. Check it out.
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