Civil War (film): Difference between revisions

Civil War
Civil War
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alex Garland
Written by	Alex Garland
Produced by	Andrew Macdonald; Allon Reich; Gregory Goodman;
Starring	Kirsten Dunst; Wagner Moura; Cailee Spaeny; Stephen McKinley Henderson; Sonoya Mizuno; Nick Offerman;
Cinematography	Rob Hardy
Edited by	Jake Roberts
Music by	Ben Salisbury; Geoff Barrow;
Production; companies	DNA Films; IPR.VC;
Distributed by	A24 (United States); Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom);
Release dates	March 14, 2024 (SXSW); April 12, 2024 (US & UK);
Running time	109 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States;
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$126.2 million

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Civil War is a 2024 dystopian thriller film^[6] written and directed by Alex Garland, starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman. The plot follows a team of war journalists traveling from New York City to Washington, D.C. during a civil war fought across the United States between a despotic federal government and secessionist movements, to interview the president before rebels take the capital city.

Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2022, with production moving to London later in the year. Civil War premiered at South by Southwest on March 14, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by A24 and in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors on April 12, 2024. With a budget of $50 million, Civil War was A24's most expensive film at the time.^[2] The film has grossed over $122 million worldwide, becoming A24's second highest-grossing film, and received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

In the near-future, a civil war has engulfed the United States. An authoritarian federal government, led by a third-term president, is embattled by secessionist movements. Despite the president claiming victory is imminent, it is widely expected that Washington, D.C. will soon be reached by the "Western Forces" (WF) led by Texas and California. After surviving a suicide bombing in New York City, jaded veteran war photographer Lee Smith and journalist colleague Joel meet with their mentor Sammy to share their plan to interview the isolated president. While trying to dissuade them from heading to the capital, Sammy joins them to reach the frontline at Charlottesville, Virginia. The next morning, Lee finds Joel has allowed a young aspiring photojournalist whom Lee encountered at the bombing, Jessie Cullen, to join them.

After departing the city, the group stops at a gas station protected by armed men. Jessie explores a nearby car wash, where she finds the men torturing two alleged looters. One of the guards follows Jessie, but Lee defuses the situation by taking a photo of the man posing with his victims. Later, Jessie berates herself for being too scared to take photos.

Following an overnight stop near ongoing fighting, the group documents combat the next day as secessionist militiamen successfully assault a loyalist-held building. Lee recognizes Jessie's potential as a war photographer and begins to mentor her, while Jessie photographs the secessionists executing prisoners. The group spends the night at a refugee camp before passing through a small town where, under watchful guard, residents attempt to live in blissful ignorance of the war.

Later, they are caught in a sniper battle amid the remains of a Christmas fair. Nearby snipers mock Joel's questioning what side they are fighting for or against, instead summarizing the situation as killing those trying to kill them. Jessie's nerve and photography skills improve as she becomes increasingly desensitized to violence. Jessie asks if Lee would photograph her in the event she were killed in a combat zone, to which Lee responds in the affirmative.

While driving, the four encounter two foreign reporters they know, Tony and Bohai. Tony and Jessie switch vehicles before Bohai drives off ahead with Jessie in his car. The others catch up to find the pair held at gunpoint by unknown uniformed militia who are burying civilians in a mass grave. Sammy stays behind as the other three approach to attempt to negotiate their release, but the leader of the militia executes both Bohai and Tony for not being "American". Sammy saves the others after he rams the group's truck into members of the militia but is mortally wounded when he is shot while fleeing afterward.

Traumatized, the remaining three arrive at the Charlottesville WF base and find most of the remaining loyalists have surrendered, leaving Washington, D.C., defended only by fanatical remnants of the armed forces and Secret Service. Joel drunkenly lashes out at what he views as Sammy's pointless death, while Lee tries to console Jessie by saying that Sammy would've liked to die on the job. Lee finds herself unable to document Sammy's death, deleting a photo she took of his body.

The trio embed themselves with the WF as they assault D.C., where Jessie repeatedly endangers herself during fighting to capture photographs, while Lee struggles with post traumatic stress disorder from the carnage. When the WF breaches the White House's fortified perimeter, a convoy with the presidential limousine flees but WF units eliminate the convoy, and its occupants (including the first lady) are killed. Understanding it to be a diversion, the trio heads inside with WF soldiers instead.

Advancing through the largely-abandoned building filled with dead staffers (presumed to have committed suicide), an abortive attempt by a single Secret Service agent to negotiate the president's surrender and safe passage results in the death of said agent. This results in the few remaining Secret Service agents still guarding the president engaging in a firefight with the WF. Jessie steps into the line of fire while taking photos, but Lee pushes her to safety and is killed by the Secret Service while Jessie captures Lee's demise on her camera.

Jessie unemotionally continues into the Oval Office, watching soldiers drag the president from under his desk and prepare to summarily execute him. Joel momentarily stops them to get a quote from the president, who replies, "Don't let them kill me." Satisfied, Joel stops delaying the soldiers, who then kill the president, while Jessie photographs WF soldiers posing with his corpse.

Cast

Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith, a renowned war photojournalist from Colorado.^[7] She is said to be the youngest member of the Magnum Photos cooperative. Her first name is a reference to famed World War II photojournalist Lee Miller.^[8]
Wagner Moura as Joel, a Reuters journalist from Florida and Lee's colleague.
Cailee Spaeny as Jessie, an aspiring young photographer from Missouri who accompanies Lee and Joel on their journey.
Stephen McKinley Henderson as Sammy, a veteran journalist for The New York Times and Lee's mentor.
Sonoya Mizuno as Anya, a British reporter embedded with the Western Forces' advance on the capital.
Jefferson White as Dave, Anya's cameraman.
Nelson Lee as Tony, a Hong Konger reporter who is good friends with Lee and Joel.
Karl Glusman as a spotter.
Jin Ha as a sniper.
Juani Feliz as Joy Butler, a Secret Service agent.
Jonica T. Gibbs as a Western Forces sergeant.
James Yaegashi as a secessionist corporal.
Evan Lai as Bohai, a foreign reporter who is a colleague of Tony.
Greg Hill as Pete, a gas station employee.
Edmund Donovan as Eddie, a gas station employee.
Nick Offerman as the president of the United States^[7]

Additional cast members include Tim James as the looter tortured by Pete and Eddie, and Jared Shaw, Justin Garza, Brian Philpot, and Tywaun Tornes as the Western Forces soldiers who join the sergeant in storming the White House. Jesse Plemons, Dunst's real-life husband, makes an uncredited appearance as a racist^[9] ultranationalist militant who holds the journalists at gunpoint.^[10]^[11]

Production

Development and casting

In January 2022, Deadline reported that Alex Garland had signed on to write and direct the film for A24 with DNA Films co-producing. Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Cailee Spaeny were confirmed to star.^[12] In April, Karl Glusman was announced^{[by whom?]} as part of the cast.^[13] In a May interview with The Daily Telegraph, Garland described the film as a companion piece to his 2022 film Men, and said it is "set at an indeterminate point in the future—just far enough ahead for me to add a conceit—and serves as a sci-fi allegory for our currently polarized predicament". In the same interview, Sonoya Mizuno was revealed as part of the cast, having appeared in all of Garland's previous films.^[14]

Jesse Plemons, Dunst's husband, was cast in the uncredited role at Dunst's suggestion after the originally cast actor became unavailable a few days before shooting began. Garland called Plemons' availability "a stunning bit of good luck."^[10]^[11]

Filming

Principal photography began in Atlanta on March 15, 2022, under the code name Road Trip.^[15]^[16]^[17] By May, production had moved to London.^[18] The production budget for Civil War was $50 million, making it A24's most expensive film at the time.^[2] It was shot partially on the prosumer DJI Ronin 4D camera.^[19]^[20] The film's Washington D.C.-based finale required months of planning, with Alex Garland and cinematographer Rob Hardy holding a series of roundtable discussions with production designer Caty Maxey, VFX supervisor David Simpson,^[21] military supervisor Ray Mendoza and stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw.^[22]^[23] The scenes in the Washington streets were filmed in Stone Mountain, Georgia, while the White House sequences were filmed at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.^[22]^[23]

In a March 2024 interview with The Guardian, Garland stated that after Civil War, he intends to step back from directing and focus only on writing.^[24]

Post-production

Film editor Jake Roberts and sound editor Glenn Freemantle^[25] re-team with Alex Garland, as does VFX supervisor David Simpson with Framestore.

Music

Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow composed the original score for the film.^[26] Silver Apples' "Lovefingers", Suicide's "Rocket USA", De La Soul's "Say No Go", Skid Row's "Sweet Little Sister", Sturgill Simpson's "Breakers Roar", and Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream" were used in the film.^[27]^[28]

Release

Civil War had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2024, with favorable reactions from the audience and positive reviews from critics.^[29]^[30]

The film was previously scheduled to be released on April 26, 2024.^[31]^[32] It was screened at the BFI IMAX in London on April 11, 2024, and received a wide release on April 12, 2024, in the United States by A24 and in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film, with engagements in IMAX and Dolby Cinema.^[33]^[34]^[35] The film was released in mainland China on June 7, 2024.^[36]

It was released through video on demand on May 24, 2024,^[37] and Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 9, 2024 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.^[38] It was also invited to 'Open Cinema' at the 29th Busan International Film Festival and will be screened at the outdoor theater in October 2024.^[39]

On April 17, 2024, A24 promoted the film on Instagram by posting five images created by artificial intelligence (AI), each showing a different American city in postapocalyptic disarray. The images were criticized for inaccurately depicting certain cityscapes: the AI-generated image of Chicago wrongfully represented the Marina City apartment complex, with its buildings being separated by a non-existent island on the Chicago River. In real life, the buildings are located directly next to each other.^[40]^[41] A source connected to the film confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that they were "AI images inspired by the movie. The entire movie is a big 'what if' and so we wanted to continue that thought on social — powerful imagery of iconic landmarks with that dystopian realism."^[42]^[43]^[44]

Reception

Box office

Civil War grossed $68.6 million in the United States and Canada and $55.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $124 million.^[4]^[5]

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $18–24 million from 3,838 theaters (the widest-ever R-rated release by an independent studio) in its opening weekend.^[45] The film made $10.8 million on its first day, including $2.9 million from Thursday night previews (a record for an A24 release). It went on to debut to $25.7 million, surpassing Hereditary as the biggest opening weekend in A24's history as well as the studio's first film to top the box office.^[3] The opening weekend audience skewed male at 63%, while 57% of attendees were between ages 18–34. IMAX contributed over 16% of the opening weekend gross, with the main reasons given for seeing the film being its subject matter, the action, and a general interest in indie films (each grouping made up a third of the audience, with the former narrowly higher).^[46]

In its second weekend the film made $11.1 million (a 56% drop), remaining in first place, before falling to fourth place in its third weekend with $7 million.^[47]^[48]

Performance outside North America

Commentators noted that, despite the film's inherently U.S.-centric subject matter, Civil War performed well in several markets outside the United States. This includes the United Kingdom, where it grossed $7.9 million as of May 19, and the Netherlands, where it reached ticket sales of $750,000. The film additionally opened in first place at the box office in Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.^[49]

Critical response

Following the SXSW premiere, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes noted that critics called the film "a gorgeously shot cautionary tale full of big ideas and a fantastic performance by Kirsten Dunst, but it may surprise some viewers". Critics praised the "beauty and intensity of the dystopian drama" while noting its "potential for controversy and disappointment" due to the effectiveness of its messages.^[50] On the site, 81% of 392 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Tough and unsettling by design, Civil War is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis."^[51] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 64 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[52] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 76% overall positive score, with 53% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[3] Screen Rant attributed the film's depiction of warfare and Garland's directorial choices, such as the use of hand-held camera footage, as the reasons why its reception was positive.^[53]

In a positive review, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Garland's the last person to suggest a group hug. As statements go, his powerful vision leaves us shaken, effectively repeating the question that quelled the L.A. riots: Can we all get along?"^[54] Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for RogerEbert.com, compared Civil War to films about "Western journalists covering the collapse of foreign countries", such as The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) and Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), ultimately praising the film as "furiously convincing and disturbing".^[55]

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, writing: "With the precision and length of its violent battle sequences, it's clear Civil War operates as a clarion call. Garland wrote the film in 2020 as he watched cogs on America's self-mythologizing exceptionalist machine turn, propelling the nation into a nightmare. With this latest film, he sounds the alarm, wondering less about how a country walks blindly into its own destruction and more about what happens when it does."^[6] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times echoed the sentiment, writing: "Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor's face that, like Dunst's, expressed a nation's soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray."^[56]

Some critics had mixed reactions. The Washington Post's Amy Nicholson described the film as "coldly, deliberately incurious about the combatants and the victims," but also wrote "the film feels poetically, deeply true, even when it's suggesting that humans are more apt to tear one another apart for petty grievances than over a sincere defense of some kind of principles".^[57]^[58]

Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood offered negative comments, writing: "The script's utilization of characters of color as conduits for brutality needed to be explored further ... Ultimately, Civil War feels like a missed opportunity. The director's vision of a fractured America, embroiled in conflict, holds the potential for introspection on our current societal divisions. However, the film's execution, hampered by thin characterization, a lackluster narrative and an overreliance on spectacle over substance, left me disengaged."^[59]

Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post observed: "Civil War's shtick is that it's not specifically political. For instance, as the US devolves into enemy groups of secessionist states, Texas and California have banded together to form the Western Forces. That such an alliance could ever occur is about as likely as [a] Sweetgreen/Kentucky Fried Chicken combo restaurant."^[60] Eisa Nefertari Ulen, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, also found that the film, despite being "otherwise solid," was partially missing its point, stating: "Casablanca endures because it spoke to a moment as 'crazy and mixed-up' as this one, and nudged the country away from its isolationist inaction. Civil War does not resonate like that classic, because it does not explicitly address this moment. We as a people cannot fix a problem we cannot name."^[61]

Stephanie Zacharek of Time observed: "Civil War has the vibe of your standard desolate zombie movie with a modern American backdrop, but it's far less effective than your average George A. Romero project: sometimes a B movie with a sense of humor about itself says more about a nation's despair than an overserious, breast-beating one ... Do we really need a movie to invent, and rub our noses in, the possibility of a bleaker future?"^[62]

The film received both praise and criticism for its approach to contemporary political themes, including concerns of democratic decline and increased political polarization.^[63]^[64]^[65]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Astra Midseason Movie Awards	July 3, 2024	Best Picture	Civil War	Nominated	^[66] ^[67]
		Best Director	Alex Garland	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kirsten Dunst	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Jesse Plemons	Runner-up
		Best Supporting Actress	Cailee Spaeny	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Alex Garland	Nominated
British Independent Film Awards	December 8, 2024	Best Cinematography	Rob Hardy	Pending	^[68]
		Best Costume Design	Meghan Kasperlik	Pending
		Best Editing	Jake Roberts	Pending
		Best Effects	David Simpson	Pending
		Best Production Design	Caty Maxey	Pending
		Best Sound	Glenn Freemantle	Pending
Golden Trailer Awards	May 30, 2024	Best Action TV Spot	"Mission" (AV Squad)	Nominated	^[69] ^[70]
		Best Independent Trailer	"Home" (AV Squad)	Nominated
		Best Motion Poster	AV Print	Nominated
Hollywood Professional Association Awards	November 7, 2024	Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature	Glenn Freemantle, Howard Bargroff, Adam Scrivener, Ben Barker, and Gillian Dodders (Formosa Group UK)	Nominated	^[71] ^[72]
Location Managers Guild International Awards	August 24, 2024	Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary Feature Film	Civil War	Nominated	^[73] ^[74]

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^ Nicholson, Amy (April 10, 2024). "Civil War beholds the rockets' red glare but not real-world divisions". The Washington Post.
^ Zilberman, Alan (April 17, 2024). "Civil War, Independence Day, and Hollywood's tradition of blowing up D.C." The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
^ Complex, Valerie (March 15, 2024). "Civil War Review: Alex Garland's Journey Through War's Desolation Loses Its Way – SXSW". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
^ Oleksinski, Johnny (April 12, 2024). "Civil War review: A torturous, overrated movie without a point". New York Post. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
^ Nefertari Ulen, Eisa (April 18, 2024). "Critic's Notebook: The Compellingly Packaged Cowardice of Civil War". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
^ Zacharek, Stephanie (April 12, 2024). "Alex Garland's Civil War Works Overtime to Make Its Over-Obvious Points". Time. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
^ Rooney, David; Gyarkye, Lovia (April 24, 2024). "Critics' Conversation: Civil War and Civic Anxiety". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
^ Beauchamp, Zack (April 11, 2024). "Civil War has little to say about America — but a lot to say about war". Vox. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
^ Butt, Thomas (April 18, 2024). "Civil War's Apolitical Stance is Making People Angry for All the Wrong Reasons". Collider. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
^ "Hollywood Creative Alliance Announces the Nominees for the 2024 Astra Midseason Movie Awards" (Press release). The Astra Awards. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
^ Neglia, Matt (July 3, 2024). "The 2024 Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) Midseason Astra Award Winners". Next Best Picture. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
^ Shafer, Ellise (November 5, 2024). "'Kneecap', 'Love Lies Bleeding' Lead British Independent Film Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
^ "The GTA24 Nominees" (PDF). Golden Trailer Awards. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
^ "The GTA24 Winners" (PDF). Golden Trailer Awards. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
^ "'Dune: Part Two', 'Inside Out 2', and 'The Creator' Lead HPA Awards Feature Nominations". Variety. October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
^ "'Dune 2', 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Win HPA Awards". Variety. November 7, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
^ Kuznikov, Selena (July 1, 2024). "'Fargo' and 'Bridgerton' Among Nominations for 11th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
^ Giardina, Carolyn (August 24, 2024). "'Ripley', 'Fallout', 'Fargo', and 'Oppenheimer' Take Top Honors at Location Managers Awards". Variety. Retrieved August 25, 2024.

External links

Official website
Civil War at IMDb
Civil War at Rotten Tomatoes

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[63] Rooney, David; Gyarkye, Lovia (April 24, 2024). "Critics' Conversation: Civil War and Civic Anxiety". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

[64] Beauchamp, Zack (April 11, 2024). "Civil War has little to say about America — but a lot to say about war". Vox. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

[65] Butt, Thomas (April 18, 2024). "Civil War's Apolitical Stance is Making People Angry for All the Wrong Reasons". Collider. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

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[67] Neglia, Matt (July 3, 2024). "The 2024 Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) Midseason Astra Award Winners". Next Best Picture. Retrieved July 3, 2024.

[68] Shafer, Ellise (November 5, 2024). "'Kneecap', 'Love Lies Bleeding' Lead British Independent Film Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved November 6, 2024.

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[72] "'Dune 2', 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Win HPA Awards". Variety. November 7, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.

[73] Kuznikov, Selena (July 1, 2024). "'Fargo' and 'Bridgerton' Among Nominations for 11th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.

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v t e Works by Alex Garland
Novels	The Beach (1996) The Tesseract (1998) The Coma (2004)
Films written and directed	Ex Machina (2014) Annihilation (2018) Men (2022) Civil War (2024) Warfare (TBA)
Films written	28 Days Later (2002) Sunshine (2007) Never Let Me Go (2010) Dredd (2012) 28 Years Later (2025) 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple (TBA)
Television series	Devs (2020)
Video games	Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010) DmC: Devil May Cry (2013)