His films present an often nightmarish vision of the world and humanity. For his new feature Civil War, in theaters April 17, 2024, Alex Garland anticipates a civil war in the United States. In the midst of a North American presidential election year that could see Donald Trump re-elected, and in a climate of high tension and social mistrust in Uncle Sam's country - the assault on the Capitol is not so far off - the British director unveils a future that may be closer than it seems.
To tell the story of this fractured America, Civil War follows three Reuters photo-reporters who bear witness to the situation through their photographs. In a veritable throwback to the American Civil War, Texas and California, allied with Florida, the dissident army of the West, clash with the other government-backed, army-held states. From New York, the three journalists(Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Stephen Henderson) attempt to reach the front line in Charlottesville at all costs, 1300km from their starting point, then on to Washington DC, where the President is holed up in the White House.
By not taking the trouble to explain the reasons behind this civil war, Alex Garland creates a template applicable to all current global tensions, demonstrating that such a conflict can flare up anywhere, for anything, and very quickly. But in fact, the director doesn't attach any societal or economic issues to his story, preferring instead a blur filled in by the photo-reporters who learn more as they progress through the country, while taking under their wings a wannabe war photographer(Cailee Spaeny) shot through with the ardor and recklessness of youth.
The only contextual anchors are the fall of the dollar, the problems of water and electricity supply, and the treatment of the press, hated by the government, the army and part of the population. In fact, the film chooses not to take sides, just as the photojournalists must not intervene, only bear witness to the truth, leaving the audience to decide whether or not to support the secessionists.
A grand spectacle of American decay that blends genres: while the prelude to Civil War and the distribution of water to the population are filmed with the codes of a zombie movie, the climax in Washington DC is incredibly immersive, like a shooter video game. The in-between part navigates between a gripping action film and a more intimate (but no less successful) tale of a family bound together by more than just the same profession, but the same passion.
Fascinatingly depicting field journalism and the reckless risks taken by reporters to get the one shot and the story that goes with it before the competition, the film is almost fantastical in the way it places photo-reporters at the heart of confrontations or aestheticizes armed conflict, and doesn't avoid, at one point, falling into the blissful contemplation of a forest on fire that could easily illustrate an ad touting the photographic qualities of the new iPhone.
If Netflix-style images and storylines have become the norm, Civil War reveals some really great ideas, mixing mediums for greater immersion (the camera's zoom is cleverly used as a zoom camera, the still photos are interspersed in black and white, at the pace of the action) and distilling a real tension that reaches its climax during a final scene that will make your palms sweat.
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