Kirsten Dunst, we meet again – it’s been a while. Kirsten, I’ll always love you, my OG Mary Jane and conqueror of Jumanji, but the last time we met, I couldn’t get behind the hype for The Power of the Dog, which put me at odds with you all award season, as you kept getting nominated. But I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if you are, and I really want you to do well in Alex Garland’s Civil War. Yes, Alex Garland, the man who brought us Ex Machina and Men, is back again with what looks like an imagined wartime thriller. Let’s have it.
Set in a suspect modern U.S. civil war, Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) is a beleaguered photographer, who has spent a lifetime covering such visceral events across the world, and now must do so at home. Her plan, along with Joel (Wagner Moura), is to travel to Washington D.C., to interview a disingenuous President (Nick Offerman), before revolting forces can kill him. The net is closing in, the road is rocky, and Lee and Joel cross the embattled United States with elderly journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) in toe, along with fresh-faced newcomer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), brave in the face of what she’s got herself into.
I watched Civil War half-exhausted, so is it okay to cry? The imagery that forms across this movie is sickening and palpable. I really can’t think of another director with such a varying short filmography, and it’s like the idea came to Garland to make a road trip movie, but dark and twisted; poignant, as well, as always, like his best movies are. A favoured aspect of Civil War for me is its use of silence and music – the silence at each depiction of the photographs taken by the girls, works to highlight their importance, and cut through the urgent horrors taking place; while the musical choices work to pair this movie with a gentle summer journey, recalling something almost like Almost Famous, since Jessie is coming of age quicker than she can know it. The first third of the movie also does a brilliant job of framing an introspection around these wartime journalists. There’s an argument that they’re leeches, but at the same time, I’m grateful for their service. They are some of the few people allowed to “roam around” through these waring conflicts, only trusted to not intervene while atrocities are taking place – their impartialness can cause a dreadful internal contraction, that Lee implores Jessie not to think about. As Lee also justifies her role, she says she’s been scouting war zones for many years to inform the world of what is happening, and so we don’t repeat the world’s mistakes ourselves – that obviously hasn’t worked out, which compiles a sense of hopelessness, especially in Lee, as the U.S.A. is in shambles. This seems a rich boots-on-the-ground perspective on photojournalism in which I’ve never encountered before, despite taking some in-depth media courses at university, and seeing similar movies like Balibo.
Next, I’m just going to take a minute to highlight Stephen McKinley Henderson. He’s been on a fine streak in recent years, and it’s always gracious to recognise when the best rising directors of the world are passing around the same talent like Sunday’s roast gravy. He’s appeared in Beau is Afraid, Dune, and Ladybird, for Ari Aster, Denis Villeneuve, and Greta Gerwig, respectively, and lands a bigger role here for Garland, as the car ride’s most vital mentor. You can probably tell he’s a theatre actor though, through a couple of insignificant larger gestures that give him away while the camera notices, but all in all, I always really like the dude. Much respect 👊 I was also thinking throughout the movie how I hope Pedro Pascal has walked so Wagner Moura can run, but Moura has actually been around for a while too, yet clearly this is the first place I have found him prominent. Jesse Plemmons shows up for one violent scene, and while he has played a varying array of heroes and villains to this point in his career, his short stay here could be his most scary – and yes, I have experienced Todd from Breaking Bad. I was so numb to Plemmons in The Power of the Dog too, along with his wife, but they are so much more engaging here. In fact, Kirsten Dunst shines! Throughout her career, I’d associate her with roles that are upbeat or downtrodden, but never hardened, which is what she gets to play here. I ultimately think the movie is heightened by her embodiment of the character, and we are in good hands ✌ Lastly, another good performance is that of Cailee Spaeny, as a gorgeous soft kid in contrast to her cracked and wary counterparts. The movie states Jessie is 22, but my goodness, she looks younger than 22, or am I just getting old? A glance at Wikipedia tells me that she’s actually 26(!), and I’ve already seen her this year, elegantly poised in Priscilla, where her combined youthfulness and maturity helped command changing age ranges. And I will see Spaeny again in the coming weeks, in Alien: Romulus, so 2024 seems to be her year.
Although, I was initially disappointed when the third act of Civil War turns away from an intimate character journey and into a bombastic set piece, as if this were a Batman movie – it’s almost like a different movie starts when our star players get to D.C., and it can come across as disconnected from what has come before. But both pieces of the movie are valuable, and I had to accept that this is probably logically where a movie like this might go, if the characters are to complete their goal. It’s then fascinating to watch how the army works with the press to keep them safe in what is an intense and active environment. It’s also fascinating how the movie allows us to be completely okay with the President getting hunted and gunned down, just on a whiff that he has crossed a line, taking a third term and disbanding the FBI. I’d heard whispers that people were unhappy at how this movie doesn’t attempt to answer the cause behind this civil war, but I support that decision, for a couple of reasons, but mainly because there wouldn’t be an answer that would satisfy everyone, right or left. The movie is sort’ve good at playing both sides, by stating that rising factions were born out of California and Texas, working together for the time being, despite the real-world fact that they are historically proud supporters of opposing sides of the isle. The movie doesn’t hint at either political party being responsible for the conflict, and why would it? You’d only isolate half your audience, and speculate on future events that hopefully never eventuate. Plus, the other reason I like the vagueness, is because the reason is immaterial. The fact that civil war is happening is horrible enough, and the focus of the movie is on how these journalists are traversing it.
And me, I may’ve recently trashed another budding director for his elevated spotlight, but Alex Garland is certainly one who can be overlooked for his varying creativity, and Civil War is just another example of how he continues to flourish. If there’s a modern issue out there threatening to destroy the peace, Alex Garland will look at it and turn it into a fable. I, myself, wrote, in my previous contact with Garland, how I’d slept on this guy, faced with shinier directors like Ari Aster and Jordan Peele, but I would urge others not to do the same. Civil War is a serious movie – in theme and in quality.
4.0
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