When it was announced that writer-director Alex Garland was making a near-future movie called Civil War, I really hoped it would be speculative. Science fiction, maybe. Basically anything but what we’ve got in this first trailer: a war movie about a divided U.S. that looks an awful lot like it could happen… soon.
There’s one nagging weirdness in this trailer, though, which is the announcement that the “Western Forces” include Texas and California. I am trying to wrap my head around the concept of Texas and California joining forces, and I am failing. So Alex Garland has certainly got me imaginatively beat on that front.
The premise is simple enough: The American flag has two stars on it, not fifty. Nineteen states have seceded, and America is at war with itself. The Western Forces are advancing on Washington, D.C., where Nick Offerman is in his third terms as president (never a good sign). Kirsten Dunst is a photojournalist covering the war, and having a very bad time of it. She co-stars with Wagner Moura (who was excellent in The Shining Girls), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune), Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina) and Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla). Jesse Plemons also shows up in the trailer, asking pointedly, “What kind of American are you?”
The film comes from A24, which has a disconcerting summary on its website: “An adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a near-future fractured America balanced on the razors edge.” A thrill ride! Is that what this is?
Before he shifted to filmmaking, Alex Garland was a novelist (The Beach). His three films as writer-director are Ex Machina, Annihilation (based on Jeff VanderMeer’s novel), and Men; he also created the TV series Devs. His ouevre is weird, occasionally compelling, and sometimes baffling, but no matter how you slice it, this is kind of an odd one.
Civil War is in theaters April 26, 2024.
