Review #348 Civil War (2024)

In a dystopian America, a group of war journalists race against time to reach Washington DC before a group of rebels descend on the White House.

Alex Garland has produced a haunting insight into war journalism through the scope of a modern day American Civil War. The chilling intensity really kicks into gear in the second and third act but I still really enjoyed the introduction to the characters in the first act too. A24 have built up a really strong reputation when it comes to the cinematography displayed in their films and that’s no different here. The sheer variety of techniques illustrated throughout the movie was impressive in itself, often exploring a characters state of mind through the visuals in the frame. Then you combine that cinematography with the incredible sound effects and it created so many tense and nail biting moments that had the audience on the edge of their seats in anticipation. To balance those extremely tense moments, Garland employed a really nice soundtrack that often juxtaposed the events taking place on screen but seemed to work perfectly with them too. 

It was also nice to see Kristen Dunst again, delivering a really strong performance of a clearly complex and trauma ridden character. Of course Stephen McKinley Henderson always delivers and my man Jesse Plemons, that man can have 5 minutes of screen time and deliver a perfect performance each and every time! Now on to the criticisms of the movie, which ultimately come down to the accuracy of certain plot points, like yes war journalist have always existed but to the point of being escorted on front line missions with soldiers risking their own lives in order to carry them along for the ride? No prior negotiation, or agreement, they just turned up to any conflict and received the same private escort, that seemed odd to me! Now I know very little on the subject but if that’s what happens then fair, but I doubt that highly. Finally the ending, which I can’t go into too much detail without spoiling but let’s just say I’d have rather someone else met an untimely end to really add that shock value but that’s all I say on that matter! Definitely one to catch if you can, the sound was impeccable in IMAX.

Overall (8.5/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan