
Civil War–Battleground States

In the 2024 film Civil War a van of war correspondents travels undercover from New York City to Washington DC to bear witness to the civil war between a dictator/president (Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreations” fame) and violent secessionists. There is no explanation of why there is a civil war, who is fighting whom, or what the expected outcome or mission is.
The protagonist is Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), a renowned war photojournalist, who seems immune to the horrors of wars she was assigned to photograph in the past. Her mentor and veteran journalist, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson of Fences) is along for the ride, hoping to guide her. Lee’s colleague, Joel (Warren Moura of the “Narcos” series), seems less desensitized to violence than Lee who films scene after scene of torture and murder without flinching or hesitation.
The other significant journalist in the van is Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), who is aspiring to reach the same level of photojournalist heights as her idol, Lee.
What we see, then, are three generations of war correspondents traveling together into the insanity of war, watching and wondering if they are shell-shocked, battle-worn, or purely focused on what they see through their lens without judgment or intervention. How does someone photograph unimaginable horror so that others will become aware of that horror without being traumatized themselves? Or is trauma inevitable?
If you think that the fog of war would sustain integrity and morality, or at least civility and basic human decency, think again. The number of psychopaths ready to fill ditches with the innocent under the jurisprudence of a few unhinged men with guns is greater than one would ever imagine.
Civil War is a terrifying film in the first half, primarily as a future that is possible, hopefully, not probable. But after “Sammy”, the moral compass in the group, is no longer in the picture, the narrative unfortunately sputters out. Interjecting long and extremely boring gun-toting scenes for the heartland. Civil War could have been—and should have been–much better.
Availability: Max
Susie Berteaux
Watched “Civil War” on the plane to France. It was quite unnerving. Kirsten Dunst’s character was played very well as a stone-cold War photographer whose conscience seems to surface in the moments of quiet of sleep or “rest.”
My take on this character is that until this Civil War in the States is happening, she was always able to “come home” to safety. With Civil War at home, nightmares and fear are always present and she is shocked to realize that is not safe anywhere and wants to protect Jessie from becoming like herself in particular when Sammy is killed.
I agree that toward the ending the movie became more of a shoot out than a statement of who really “wins the War.”
I’m afraid this movie was a commentary on what can happen when anarchy is in power and Democracy is weakened. I just hope our country doesn’t get even close to that point. There are indications that it can be close if don’t protect our Democratic government by electing the right president.
Diana Paul
Thank you for this thoughtful and analytical critique of not only the movie but also the political message. I saw it on the plane to Europe as well, and it was difficult to sleep afterwards!