Film Journal 2024: Civil War

Film Journal 2024: Civil War
Directed by Alex Garland

How should I watch this film as a Canadian?
That was the first thought/question that came to mind when asked for my thoughts post-viewing.

In truth, I’m not sure. If the film takes some strides to create something with universal application, there is no question the film is about America, and America in this present time. More so, it applies in ways I won’t be able to fully understand living norrh of the border, even if there are a few overlapping concerns and realities.

In that sense I felt a bit like a fly on a wall. I know the film made me feel something, and I would even dare say feel something deeply. A mix of feelings. And this would be true even if I found myself observing more than relating to what was unfolding on screen.
This is all a credit to the film’s artistic presence. On this level I can speak with far more confidence, as I am genuinely in love with this film on a technical front. I love the visuals and the aesthetics. The way it uses photographs as means of telling its story. The way it uses music to shift the film tonally between the different emotions. The way it films the action from the perspective of the reporters.

I also loved the way it uses a simple construct- a road trip movie- to do something entirely different and unique. Many of these visual and narrative flourishes are familiar to Garland, and they are used to achieve a visceral and emotive viewing experience. The story is simple, thematically speaking staying centered on this small crew trekking across a fractured America to capture the money shot, but it is never lost on the film, or left uncertain, that what surrounds them is bigger than their individual stories. And this is largely due to how Garland uses these cinematic tools to shape the real heart and focus of this films message- civil war is ugly.

Which is to say, thematically speaking the film is a bit more complicated to unpack. If there are indicators that help define the fractures, the ideologies are largely left out of view. These are symbols, and the symbols essentially lead us to a singular conceit- where such division exists, civil war is possible. If the film stands on one side of the other, this is largely left to ones interpretation. It’s less that the film is championing necessary nuance in certain areas of political discussion, rather it is focused on saying something about the nature of civil war. What we get is something more akin to independent reporters rather than the viewpoint of given political allegiances.

Thus it remains a somewhat neutral viewpoint in this regard, even if the parallels in the film to the right and the left, enmeshed as it is in an ambiguously defined fractured state across the different borders that make up the united part of the Americas ethos, do have a kind of power to say something on their own. I am personally not able to comment on whether this is helpful, problematic, challenging, harmful, given the present state of American politics in 2024. One of the problems of course is that the film is speaking both to something that feels like a reality, and something that has the ability to turn in this direction (the 2024 elections). What I can say, however is that, for me as a Canadian, it left with me with a singular response- civil war is a frightening reality and potential.

It also all left with me with a sense that, while it is certainly clear that this film defines A24’s recent shift in philosophy, making a foray into bigger budget and more accessible fare, a studio like this can do so while maintaining a real and robust artistic credibility. On that level it’s one of my favorite films of the year thus far. This might be too soon, but it also might be one of my favorite Garland films. I think he does something with the Blockbuster that helps push and challenge the genre in new and fresh directions.