Civil War Review

WRITTEN BY GEORGE DAVIS

A24’s latest and most expensive film ever has finally hit cinemas, however in what could be potentially be English filmmaker Alex Garland’s last film, did this second fictional civil war hit all the right spots?

The story follows a group of journalists from New York City, who aim to have an interview with the third term President in Washington D.C. The audience follows them as the travel down to the White House, experiencing pockets of fighting along the way and some dangerous characters.

One stand out in this was the action sequences and the sound design within it, the guns were loud and at times did sound scary in scenes, which puts you right there with the journalists as they photograph the new political landscape in America.

The scene that stayed with me and that took the cherry on the cake was the scene with Jesse Pelmons character. He had one of the journalists, Jessie, captive and was waving his gun about like a psycho. The soldier then asked the group “What kind of American are you” which I thought was brilliant and made for one of the most intense scenes I’ve seen in years.

One thing that I wished Civil War built on was that what caused the war, we get glimpses as we hear the President is in his third term - In the United States the President can only be in office twice, ever. We hear that the President shut down the FBI too. One big thing I found, and yes it is a creative choice, but when they came across pockets of warfare and soldiers, we didn’t know who was who, but I know that Alex Garland made this choice on purpose. Because of this we never make sense of who are the bad guys in this, from my perspective I gathered that the Western Forces, that consist of Texas and California, were the good guys and that the loyalists were the bad guys.

In the media, there has been a lot of discussion about this film and how potentially close could this be from reality, a second civil war in the United States. The film was very realistic and for parts it did make you scared, thinking and seeing a civilised nation at war and what it would be like. 

Do I believe that this film will push people to a civil war in the US? No, I don’t. A lot have commented on the alliance between Texas and California is this film calling it ‘unrealistic’, however I believe that Alex Garland did this is to show that yes, those two states and are different and have a lot of things that they don’t agree on, but in the face of evil and wrong, they can put their differences aside for the better of the American people, which I respect and think that we need more of.

Anyway, I think that A24’s Civil War was a thrilling and enjoyable watch and one that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of action.

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