Civil War
released 2024
www.ink2quill.com

“Civil War” is a dystopian, thriller, journalist, fiction film produced by Elisa Alvares, Timo Argillander, Danny Cohen, Gregory Goodman, Eric Heffron, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Kenneth Yu and Joanne Smith and is directed and written by Alex Garland. It stars Nick Offerman, Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Tim James and many more. The caste is large in number and talent.

Civil War IMDb webpage

“Civil War” is a very chilling look at what a worst case scenario of a 2nd civil war in the U.S. The film is seen through the eyes of journalists, namely Lee, played by Kirsten Dunst, Joel, played by Wagner Moura, and Jessie, played by Cailee Spaeny. A deeply psychologically damaged (with PTSD) Lee and a less affected Joel take a trip through a civil war ravaged US to DC in hopes of covering the capture and assassination of the 3rd term president, played by Nick Offerman. They hope to arrive in DC on time to cover the killing of an authoritarian president. They reluctantly let the ambitious but green photographer/journalist Jessie tag along.

Let me start with the character of Lee. She is a seasoned, very capable journalist who is potentially going on her last assignment which might be her biggest job to date. She suffers bouts of PTSD and, like Joel, is so unaffected by things going on around her like someone sleepwalking through their own nightmare. Kirsten Dunst portrays Lee so powerfully. She is emotionally exhausted from years of covering stories that have gotten worse over the years to now include a civil war complete with death squads, armed militia groups, lawlessness, injustice, atrocities, mass killings and people living in constant and pervasive fear. what a horrible future these people have made for themselves. This is a terrifying look at civil war and I’m convinced that this is not a door we ever want to open as a people.

The character of Jessie is really a mirror image of Lee, to some degree. She is a younger, emotionally cleaner version of Lee and has her ambition, drive, skill and determination. We see that Lee sees this too when she tries to keep Jessie away from their going to DC. She tries but Jessie is relentless and so ends up on the team with the trauma, violence and all. There is also a sinister side to Jessie. She is also someone who intends to emulate and replace Lee. That is another reason for her wanting to be on their team.

Lee, Jessie and Joel are important characters in this story but I have to say that the main protagonist is the 2nd US civil war itself. Yes the civil war itself is the main protagonist, or antagonist. To see the country we have today with all its problems and challenges fall so much further down to the country depicted in the film is frightening. I felt feelings of fear and anger at watching what people were doing to each other and how the people in that future let things degenerate so badly into a nation in disintegration. Many people seem to think that this future is a possibility but I do not agree. I believe it is a distant, very distant possibility. The way the story developed and ended was, in many ways, offensive to me. But through it all I think this film is a slap in the face for everybody to wake up and at least agree on the path we do not want to go down as a nation. This story is a cautionary tale if ever one was told.

So, check out this film. It’ll stir all kinds of emotions. I promise you.

John Ink2Quill

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