Following a much buzzed-about trailer, Alex Garland’s political action thriller Civil War had its world premiere at SXSW last Thursday, garnering a slew of rave reviews. The reaction online since then — both to the movie itself and reviews out of the film festival — have been divisive, which might have been Garland’s purpose.
Set during a second American Civil War in a not-so-distant future, the film follows four journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) on a road trip through the war-torn U.S. on a quest to interview the president (Nick Offerman) before secessionist forces invade Washington, D.C.
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The A24 film doesn’t open in theaters until April 12. But that hasn’t stopped social media users from conversing about the film from the title alone.
With reviews out of SXSW confirming that the movie is about the power of journalism rather than politics, some on social are going to war over it.
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Maybe “going to war” is a bit hyperbolic. But having seen Civil War myself at its SXSW premiere, it’s strange to see such opinionated takes ahead of its wide release. These divisive reactions might support Garland’s point about the dangers of an “us versus them” mentality, whatever the politics. (Though personally, I found the film’s apolitical approach unconvincing.)
To begin with, there was a lot of confusion about why California and Texas would team up in a civil war together.
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Others state that because the film’s focus is on war journalism, any debate about the movie’s politics is deliberately missing the point. Or they suggest that negative reactions to the movie’s apolitical approach have drawn ire because Garland didn’t validate the political stance of the viewers as they thought he should.
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However, some felt it was weird to release this film during an election year and not have anything to say but “both sides bad.”
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Garland knows his film will be divisive; he admitted as much in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter saying that the film is intentionally “trying to create a conversation about political divisiveness” that “vilifies the other side.” Whether or not that decision to stir the pot will be good for the film’s box office remains to be seen. You’ll just have to wait to see Civil War yourself.
Civil War hits theaters on April 12.