Civil War – brutal, bloody and compelling (UK cinemas from Friday 12 April)

Alex Garland’s new film Civil War is at first glance a sober warning shot across the bows of US citizens. Push the boundaries of mutinous action against the forces of government too far and widespread, uncontrollable insurrection could follow.

Three photographers and a print journalist set out on a six-hundred-mile journey to secure what could be the biggest interview of a civil war that has rapidly escalated across much of north America.

A picture emerges of militia defending their turf, of people replying on large sports arena shelters for food and security, of one-time army forces clearing buildings of other one-time now enemy troops, and of redneck soldiers putting any type of American or non-American they don’t approve of in the ground with a layer of quicklime on top.

It’s a brutal, bloody, but not unimaginable vision of what could happen in a country with more guns than people.

Civil War is also an ode to the other shooters in a conflict: war photographers. It unpicks their motivation to capture the reality of war (an enhanced sense of being alive amongst the overwhelming sense of fear), and interrogates their philosophy of who and what to shoot. What does it mean to be a ‘good’ journalist in a place of conflict, a place that is also your home?

Kirsten Dunst plays the tough-as-nails photographer Lee Smith, renowned for images taken of leaders abroad but now keen to get a shot of the US President before Western Forces capture Washington DC. Wagner Moura plays the print journalist Joel who wants the vital interview. New York Times veteran Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) plans to tag along for part of the journey from New York to Charlottesville.

It’s a coming-of-age road trip for a young wannabe snapper Jessie who weasels her way into their company. Versatile actor Cailee Spaeny – recently seen playing the titular role in Priscilla – depicts Jessie growing in confidence and technique with the help of her at-first unwilling coaches. It’s a crash course in tradecraft and staying alive in a warzone.

Civil War reminded me of hearing war photographer Paul Conroy speak at Belfast Festival ten years ago about his work with Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin.

A rocket fired by Syrian government forces hit their building in Homs and “removed a room”. Conroy’s instinct was to run to get his camera to get a shot. Another rocket eliminated the corridor. He found his friend and journalist Marie Colvin, dead in the rubble, just 200 miles from where they’d first met 13 years before.

His book Under the Wire, along with the 2018 film about Marie Colvin’s life and death A Private War (review), and Lindsey Hilsum’s painfully beautiful biography In Extremis back up the feeling that Civil War is portraying the leading characters authentically even if they take shortcuts with the precise camera technique.

Dunst’s ability to emotionally withdraw her character from the fray serves the film well. Casting Nick Offerman as the US President, rehearsing his opening lines for a televised address to what’s left of the nation about a ‘great victory’ (while staring down the barrel of defeat) really feels like Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson has been promoted to his level of incompetence. The film’s final exchange of dialogue – with black humour permeating the deep sense of tragedy – is a fine way to wrap everything up.

Somewhat unexpectedly, given that it isn’t a superhero film or franchise, Civil War turns out to be a film that benefits greatly from viewing in an IMAX theatre. While the cinematography is visually compelling with an enhanced attention to detail in the composition of the foreground and background of shots, it’s the sound that really comes to life. Not only do bullets whizz from side to side with a control not possible in a normal surround sound screen, but the speakers behind the fine mesh screen pump the dialogue straight at you forcing the audience to become close bystanders in every scene. The repeated use of silence is all the more stark in the soundproofed IMAX theatre.

Whether taken as a warning, an elegy to war photographers, or just another action film, Civil War is a compelling watch, particularly in an IMAX cinema. Available in UK cinemas from Friday 12 April, with an Irish release on Friday 26 April. 

Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the Buy Me a Tea button!