Review of Civil War (2024)

Alex Garland’s work is peppered with masterpieces like The Beach, 28 Days Later, Ex Machina and of course Dredd. His latest interpretation of what would possibly be a Civil War scenario in America is somewhat of a dry and sparse minimalist interpretation of something that could have potentially been an epic film, but falls short in many ways.

If one considers that the USA has a population today in excess of 333 million people, one wonders where the hell they all went during the civil war? We get to see the odd skirmish between a few people, and the highly improbable ending is truly laughable. During any event of civil unrest or especially a war, the President of the United States would not be in the Oval Office, he would either be in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), a bunker-like structure underneath the East Wing of the White House or a bunker very far away from the White House or up in the air in a Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), “Nightwatch” aircraft, which is a strategic command and control military aircraft for extreme doomsday scenarios. Furthermore, the president would not be left practically unguarded with four or five SS men with handguns in the White House, as is portrayed in the film.

There is some play with contrast during the film with times of quiet and calm suddenly contrasted with noisy gun play, but apart from a few moments of combat, be prepared for more focus on an ultimately boring team of photographic journalists making their way across the deserted country in an SUV.

Although Garland’s works are usually enjoyable pieces, Civil War is not only highly improbable, but it makes a US Civil War seem like a gentle stroll in the park. Throughout history, there has never been a pleasant civil war fought, but this one seems like a pleasant, peaceful affair where the only thing missing are the tea and scones. If every civil war was like this, nations should have them more often.

One area that is captured rather realistically is the cold nature of the Press, and their constant pursuit for that perfect story or photograph.

If there really was a civil war in America, one would have to consider that 32% of citizens has a firearm or multiple firearms.

According to Pew Research in 2021:

About four-in-ten U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 32% who say they personally own one, according to a report filed by Pew Research.

There are differences in gun ownership rates by political affiliation, gender, community type and other factors.

• Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than twice as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they personally own a gun (45% vs. 20%).
• 40% of men say they own a gun, compared with 25% of women.
• 47% of adults living in rural areas report personally owning a firearm, as do smaller shares of those who live in suburbs (30%) or urban areas (20%).
• 38% of White Americans own a gun, compared with smaller shares of Black (24%), Hispanic (20%) and Asian (10%) Americans.

32% of 333 million = 106,560,000 citizens with firearms, plus add the US military into the mix and a US Civil War would be able to be seen from the fucking I.S.S. up in orbit. Imagine the gangs, the militias, the factions, the US Army, the lone families, and everyone all shooting at each other — you would be able to see the fricking fireworks from the moon.

The power vacuum, the looting, the polarised nature of the population, and all the other variables would all melt into a single bucket of extreme violence and insane levels of gun play practically in every state.

As already mentioned before, Civil War the film does not in any way address any of these issues, and portrays the entire event as some kind of lazy pleasant road trip movie, albeit with a few interspersed moments of minimal war, one could describe it as mild skirmishes.

This is definitely not a Civil War — some people have probably witnessed more combat in a Waffle House at 3.30 AM.

CIVIL WAR – A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Director : Alex Garland
Writer : Alex Garland
Stars : Nick Offerman, Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura

Budget : $50 million

Rating : 28%