Civil War | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alex Garland |
Written by | Alex Garland |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Rob Hardy |
Edited by | Jake Roberts |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes [1] |
Countries |
|
Language | English |
Budget | $50 million [2] [3] |
Box office | $113.6 million [4] [5] |
Civil War is a 2024 dystopian thriller film [6] written and directed by Alex Garland. It follows a team of journalists traveling from New York City to Washington, D.C. during a civil war fought across the United States between an authoritarian federal government and several regional factions, to interview the President before rebels take the city. The cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman.
Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia in 2022, with production moving to London later in the year. Civil War premiered at South by Southwest on March 14, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by A24 and in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors on April 12, 2024. With a budget of $50 million, Civil War is A24's most expensive film to date. [2] The film has grossed over $113 million worldwide, becoming A24's second highest-grossing film, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
A civil war has engulfed the United States, fought between the federal government led by a third-term president and secessionist movements. Despite the president claiming victory is close at hand, it is considered only a matter of time before the "Western Forces" (WF) led by Texas and California reach Washington, D.C. After surviving a suicide bombing in New York City, veteran war photographer Lee Smith and journalist colleague Joel meet with their mentor Sammy to share their plan to interview the isolated president. While trying to dissuade them from heading to the capital, Sammy joins them so he can reach the frontline at Charlottesville, Virginia. The next morning, Lee finds Joel has allowed a young aspiring photojournalist Lee encountered at the bombing, Jessie Cullen, to join them.
After departing the city, the group stops at a gas station protected by armed men. Jessie explores a nearby car wash, where she finds the men are torturing two alleged looters. One of the guards follows Jessie, but Lee defuses the situation by taking a photo of the man posing with his victims. Later, Jessie berates herself for being too scared to take photos. When Lee gets her to shoot a downed helicopter, Jessie asks if Lee would photograph Jessie being killed, to which Lee responds, "What do you think?"
Following an overnight stop near ongoing fighting, the group documents combat the next day as secessionist militiamen assault a loyalist-held building. Lee sees Jessie's potential as a war-photographer and begins to mentor her, while Jessie photographs the militia executing loyalist prisoners. Continuing, the group spends the night at a refugee camp before passing through a small town where, under watchful guard, residents attempt to live in blissful ignorance. Lee and Jessie grow closer, trying on clothes at a shop.
Later, they are caught in a sniper battle amid the remains of a Christmas fair. Nearby snipers mock Joel's questioning what side they are on, instead displaying a cynical kill-or-be-killed attitude. Jessie's nerve and photography skills improve as she becomes desensitized to violence.
While driving, the four encounter two Hongkonger reporters they know, Tony and Bohai. Tony and Jessie switch vehicles before Bohai drives off ahead with Jessie in his car. The others catch up to find the pair held at gunpoint by unknown uniformed militia who are burying civilians in a mass grave. Against Sammy’s objection, the other three attempt to negotiate their release, but the leader of the militia executes both Bohai and Tony for not being "American". The others are saved by Sammy after he rams the group's truck into members of the militia, but is mortally wounded during the escape after and dies.
Traumatized, the remaining three arrive at the Charlottesville WF base. Joel learns from Lee's British reporter friend Anya that most remaining loyalists have surrendered, leaving D.C. undefended besides fanatical remnants of the armed forces and Secret Service. Joel drunkenly lashes out at what he views as Sammy’s pointless death; Lee tells Jessie Sammy died doing what he wanted. Lee deletes a photo she took of his body.
The trio embed themselves with the WF as they assault Washington, D.C., where Jessie repeatedly exposes herself during fighting to capture photographs while Lee struggles with combat fatigue. After the WF breach the White House's fortified perimeter, the presidential limousine attempts to flee only to be quickly intercepted and its occupants (which do not include the president) killed. Understanding it to be a distraction, the trio instead head inside and are followed by a squad of WF soldiers.
Advancing through the largely-abandoned building and against the few remaining Secret Service agents, they shoot a negotiator requesting the president's safe passage. Jessie steps into the line of fire while taking photos, as Lee sees imminent danger, intercedes and takes a fatal gun shot: Jessie captures Lee's death as she pushes Jessie to safety. Jessie unemotionally continues into the Oval Office, watching soldiers drag the president from under his desk and prepare to execute him summarily. Joel momentarily stops them to get a quote from the president, who replies, "Don't let them kill me." Satisfied, Joel stops delaying the soldiers, while Jessie photographs WF soldiers killing the president before posing with his corpse.
In January 2022, Deadline reported that Alex Garland had signed on to write and direct the film for A24 with DNA Films co-producing. Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Cailee Spaeny were confirmed to star. [12] In April, Karl Glusman was announced[ by whom? ] as part of the cast. [13] In a May interview with The Daily Telegraph , Garland described the film as a companion piece to his 2022 film Men , and said it is "set at an indeterminate point in the future—just far enough ahead for me to add a conceit—and serves as a sci-fi allegory for our currently polarized predicament". In the same interview, Sonoya Mizuno was revealed as part of the cast, having appeared in all of Garland's previous films. [14]
Jesse Plemons, Dunst's husband, was quickly cast in the uncredited role at Dunst's suggestion after the originally cast actor became unavailable a few days before shooting began. Garland called Plemons' availability "a stunning bit of good luck." [10] [11]
Principal photography began in Atlanta on March 15, 2022. [15] [16] By May, production had moved to London. [17] The production budget for Civil War was $50 million, making it A24's most expensive film. [2] The movie was shot partially on the prosumer DJI Ronin 4D camera. [18] [19] The film's Washington D.C based finale required months of planning with Alex Garland and cinematographer Rob Hardy holding a series of roundtable discussions with production designer Caty Maxey, VFX supervisor David Simpson, [20] military supervisor Ray Mendoza and stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw. [21] [22]
In a March 2024 interview with The Guardian , Garland stated that after Civil War, he intends to step back from directing and focus only on writing. [23]
Film editor Jake Roberts and sound editor Glenn Freemantle [24] re-team with Alex Garland, as does VFX supervisor David Simpson with Framestore.
Civil War had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 14, 2024, with favourable reactions from the audience and to positive reviews from the critics. [25] [26]
The film was previously scheduled to be released on April 26, 2024. [27] [28] It was screened at the BFI IMAX in London on April 11, 2024, and received a wide release on April 12, 2024, in the United States by A24 and in the United Kingdom by Entertainment Film, with engagements in IMAX and Dolby Cinema. [29] [30] [31] The film will be released in mainland China on June 7, 2024. [32]
It was released through video on demand on May 24, 2024. [33]
On April 17, 2024, A24 promoted the film on Instagram by posting five images created by artificial intelligence (AI), each showing a different American city in postapocalyptic disarray.
The images were criticized for inaccurately depicting certain cityscapes: The AI-generated image of Chicago wrongfully depicted the Marina City apartment complex, with the buildings depicted as being separated by a non-existent island on the Chicago River. In real life, the buildings are located directly next to each other. [34] [35]
A source connected to the film confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that they were "AI images inspired by the movie. The entire movie is a big 'what if' and so we wanted to continue that thought on social — powerful imagery of iconic landmarks with that dystopian realism." [36] [37] [38]
As of May 27,2024 [update] , Civil War has grossed $68.1 million in the United States and Canada and $45.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $113.6 million. [4] [5]
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $18–24 million from 3,838 theaters (the widest-ever R-rated release by an independent studio) in its opening weekend. [39] The film made $10.8 million on its first day, including $2.9 million from Thursday night previews (a record for an A24 release). It went on to debut to $25.7 million, surpassing Hereditary as the biggest opening weekend in A24's history as well as the studio's first film to top the box office. [3] The opening weekend audience skewed male at 63%, while 57% of attendees were between ages 18–34. IMAX contributed over 16% of the opening weekend gross, with the main reasons given for seeing the film being its subject matter, the action, and a general interest in indie films (each grouping made up a third of the audience, with the former narrowly higher). [40]
In its sophomore weekend the film made $11.1 million (a 56% drop), remaining in first place, before falling to fourth place in its third weekend with $7 million. [41] [42]
Regarding ideological composition of the audience in the United States, The Hollywood Reporter reported that ticket buyers were equally conservative and liberal according to exit poll data. [40] Deadline Hollywood wrote that 22% were liberal, 19% were Democrats, while 6% were Republicans, 6% Evangelical Christians, and 5% conservative. A further 11% consider themselves moderate. [3]
Commentators noted that, despite the film's inherently U.S.-centric subject matter, Civil War performed well in several markets outside the United States. This includes the United Kingdom, where it grossed $4.8 million as of April 23, as well as the Netherlands, where it reached ticket sales of $750,000. The film additionally opened in first place at the box office in Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Finland, and Portugal. [43]
This section may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. Please help to create a more balanced presentation. Discuss and resolve this issue before removing this message. (May 2024) |
Following the SXSW premiere, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes noted that critics called the film "a gorgeously shot cautionary tale full of big ideas and a fantastic performance by Kirsten Dunst, but it may surprise some viewers". Critics praised the "beauty and intensity of the dystopian drama", while noting its "potential for controversy and disappointment" due to the effectiveness of its messages. [44] On the site, 81% of 358 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Tough and unsettling by design, Civil War is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis." [45] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 64 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [46] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 76% overall positive score, with 53% saying they would definitely recommend it. [3] Screen Rant attributed the film's depiction of warfare and Garland's directorial choices, such as the use of hand-held camera footage, as the reasons why its reception was positive. [47]
In a positive review, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Garland's the last person to suggest a group hug. As statements go, his powerful vision leaves us shaken, effectively repeating the question that quelled the L.A. riots: Can we all get along?" [48] Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for RogerEbert.com , compared Civil War to films about "Western journalists covering the collapse of foreign countries", such as The Year of Living Dangerously and Welcome to Sarajevo , ultimately praising the film as "furiously convincing and disturbing". [49]
Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, writing: "With the precision and length of its violent battle sequences, it's clear Civil War operates as a clarion call. Garland wrote the film in 2020 as he watched cogs on America's self-mythologizing exceptionalist machine turn, propelling the nation into a nightmare. With this latest film, he sounds the alarm, wondering less about how a country walks blindly into its own destruction and more about what happens when it does." [6] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times echoed the sentiment, writing "rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor's face that, like Dunst's, expressed a nation's soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray." [50]
Some critics had mixed reactions. The Washington Post 's Amy Nicholson described the film as "coldly, deliberately incurious about the combatants and the victims", but also said "the film feels poetically, deeply true, even when it’s suggesting that humans are more apt to tear one another apart for petty grievances than over a sincere defense of some kind of principles." [51] [52]
Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood offered negative comments, saying: "The script's utilization of characters of color as conduits for brutality needed to be explored further. ... Ultimately, Civil War feels like a missed opportunity. The director's vision of a fractured America, embroiled in conflict, holds the potential for introspection on our current societal divisions. However, the film's execution, hampered by thin characterization, a lackluster narrative and an overreliance on spectacle over substance, left me disengaged." [53]
Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post observed: "Civil War's shtick is that it's not specifically political. For instance, as the US devolves into enemy groups of secessionist states, Texas and California have banded together to form the Western Forces. That such an alliance could ever occur is about as likely as [a] Sweetgreen/Kentucky Fried Chicken combo restaurant." [54] Eisa Nefertari Ulen, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, also found that the film, despite being "otherwise solid," was partially missing its point, stating, " Casablanca endures because it spoke to a moment as 'crazy and mixed-up' as this one, and nudged the country away from its isolationist inaction. Civil War does not resonate like that classic, because it does not explicitly address this moment. We as a people cannot fix a problem we cannot name." [55]
Stephanie Zacharek of Time observed: "Civil War has the vibe of your standard desolate zombie movie with a modern American backdrop, but it's far less effective than your average George A. Romero project: sometimes a B movie with a sense of humor about itself says more about a nation's despair than an overserious, breast-beating one. ... Do we really need a movie to invent, and rub our noses in, the possibility of a bleaker future?" [56]
The film received both praise and criticism for its approach to contemporary political themes, including concerns of democratic decline and increased political polarization. [57] [58] [59]
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film New York Stories (1989) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awards including nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Alexander Medawar Garland is an English author, screenwriter, and director. He rose to prominence with his novel The Beach (1996). He subsequently received praise for writing the Danny Boyle films 28 Days Later (2002) and Sunshine (2007), as well as Never Let Me Go (2010) and Dredd (2012). In video games, he co-wrote Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010) and served as a story supervisor on DmC: Devil May Cry (2013).
Jesse Plemons is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a breakthrough with his role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights (2006–2011). He subsequently portrayed Todd Alquist in season 5 of the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad (2012–2013) and its sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). For his role as Ed Blumquist in season 2 of the FX anthology series Fargo (2015), he received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won a Critics' Choice Television Award. He received a second Emmy nomination for his performance in "USS Callister", an episode of the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2017).
Jessie Buckley is an Irish actress and singer. The accolades she has received include a Laurence Olivier Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.
The Bling Ring is a 2013 crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola featuring an ensemble cast led by Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Rock and Leslie Mann. It is based on the 2010 Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales, which dealt with a real-life gang known as the Bling Ring. The story follows a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to burgle their homes.
A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The company is based in Manhattan.
American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and written and executive-produced by Jason Hall, loosely based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History (2012) by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. While Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life. It stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Kevin Lacz, Navid Negahban, and Keir O'Donnell in supporting roles.
Fargo is an American black comedy crime drama television series created and primarily written by Noah Hawley. It is based on the 1996 film of the same name, which was written and directed by the Coen brothers, and takes place in the American Midwest, primarily Minnesota, within the same continuity as the film. The Coens were impressed by Hawley's script and agreed to be named as executive producers. The series premiered on April 15, 2014, on FX, and follows an anthology format, with each season set in a different era and location, with a different story and mostly new characters and cast, although there is minor overlap. Each season is heavily influenced by various Coen brothers films, with each containing numerous references to them.
Midnight Special is a 2016 American science fiction film written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The film stars Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Martell, and Sam Shepard. It is Nichols's fourth full-length film and his first studio production. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.
The second season of Fargo, an American anthology black comedy–crime drama television series created by Noah Hawley, premiered on October 12, 2015, on the basic cable network FX. Its principal cast is Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, and Ted Danson. The ten-episode season's finale aired on December 14, 2015. As an anthology, each Fargo season possesses its own self-contained narrative, following a disparate set of characters in various settings in a connected shared universe.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic Western crime drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric Roth and Scorsese based their screenplay on the 2017 non-fiction book by David Grann. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, but a corrupt local political boss sought to steal the wealth.
Cailee Spaeny is an American actress. Her first major role was in the science fiction film Pacific Rim Uprising (2018), which was followed by appearances in Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex, and Vice in the same year. She had supporting roles in the miniseries Devs (2020) and Mare of Easttown (2021), and a starring role in the fantasy film The Craft: Legacy (2020).
Ari Aster is an American filmmaker. Having garnered some initial recognition for the short film The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011), he became best known for writing and directing Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019), and Beau Is Afraid (2023), all of which were released by A24. His films have been noted for their unsettling combination of horror, dark comedy, and depictions of graphic violence. In 2018, he co-founded the production company Square Peg with Danish producer Lars Knudsen.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo and Jonathan Wang. The film incorporates elements from several genres and film media, including surreal comedy, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts films, immigrant narrative, and animation. Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn Quan Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant who, while audited by the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse. The film also stars Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong.
The Power of the Dog is a 2021 Western psychological drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. It is based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same title. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Set in Montana but shot mostly in rural Otago, the film is an international co-production among New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Beau Is Afraid is a 2023 American surrealist tragicomedy horror film written, directed, and co-produced by Ari Aster. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as the title character, and also includes a supporting ensemble cast consisting of Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Michael Gandolfini, Zoe Lister-Jones, Armen Nahapetian, and Richard Kind. Its plot follows the mild-mannered but paranoia-ridden Beau as he embarks on a surreal odyssey to get home to his mother's funeral, realizing his greatest fears along the way.
Men is a 2022 British folk horror film written and directed by Alex Garland. It stars Jessie Buckley as a widowed woman who travels on holiday to a countryside village but becomes disturbed and tormented by the strange men in the village, all portrayed by Rory Kinnear. The film was released in the United States on 20 May 2022 by A24 and in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2022 by Entertainment Film Distributors. It received generally positive reviews, though its narrative approach received some criticism.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)