Jesse (Cailee Spaeney) and Lee (Kirsten Dunst) in a scene from “Civil War.”
civil war In the film, the blue state of California and the red state of Texas team up to overthrow the film’s authoritarian president.
America is so deeply divided politically that the plot unfolds as follows. civil war Writer/director Alex Garland is confusing moviegoers, especially in a presidential election year.
New work at the theater, civil war The film is set in a near-future dystopian society where the United States is divided into four distinct regions called the Western Army, the New People’s Army, the Florida Alliance, and the Loyalist Nations.
The anonymous President (Nick Offerman), holed up in the White House in Washington, D.C., is a third-term commander-in-chief who enjoys the support of loyalist nations. And while there are three other factions in this bitterly divided country, the president has his sights set on defeating the WF secession states of California and Texas.
Combining a blue state with a red state to defeat a president is an odd move, but Garland was briefed on it at a preview of the film in early April.
In short, the plot point of WF is that people on politically opposing sides, faced with fascists who seek to control everyone, regardless of which side they belong to, have to make use of their differences. It’s about telling the audience that they need to step aside and come together.
“It’s like two states with different political views saying, ‘Our political differences don’t really matter,'” Garland said. hollywood reporter. “And the counterargument to that is, if you don’t come up with that, what you’re saying is that your polarized political positions are more important than a fascist president.”
Essentially, no political party should put its position above fascism, especially given the situation facing the WF, Garland added. civil war. If they did, it would be “insane,” Garland told the trade publication.
“That’s an insane position,” Garland said. THR. “So, [Civil War is] It’s kind of a roundabout explanation, but I think that’s how the whole movie works. It doesn’t explain this, but it doesn’t avoid it either. ”
Why does “Civil War” make audiences uncomfortable?
civil war ” was No. 1 at the domestic box office last weekend, with ticket sales of approximately $26 million. The film follows respected war photojournalist Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) and a small group of reporters who travel to the nation’s capital to interview and photograph the president before WF arrives. is drawing.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie is that it doesn’t take sides politically, and Democrats and Republicans aren’t even mentioned in the movie. eventually, civil war This work is less about the causes of war than a cautionary tale about how terrifying the American landscape would be if war broke out between the American people.
Columnist Richard Newby sums it up: civil war Play the story halfway hollywood reporter By writing, “That’s not surprising.” civil war There’s no warning, no invitation to look away, no tribe to hold on to and tell us what’s right and what’s wrong, making us and our central characters uncomfortable. So this movie is bound to cause controversy. ”
Also called newbie civil war “Films that are offensive and offensive are not because they fully subscribe to a particular ideology, but because they are not. We hate media that doesn’t exactly match our worldview. We can walk out of the theater confident that we’re good people.”
civil war There is only one politician in the entire movie, the president. Regarding his portrayal of the commander-in-chief, director Nick Offerman said at the film’s premiere that his portrayal was not modeled after former President Donald Trump.
civil war It’s currently showing in theaters.
