‘Civil War’ review: An urgent film about a barely-distant future

Alex Garland’s Civil War puts the apocalyptic movie on the path to a scary, barely-distant future. The United States of America as we know it is no more. The bastion of democracy is now a messy heap of secessionist states arrayed against an autocratic president barely holding on to power.

Much has changed, but not the value of the journalistic scoop. Although the US President shares Donald Trump’s contempt for journalism, the opportunity for an exclusive story is too hot to miss. Photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst), her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), New York Times veteran Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and novice freelancer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) make their way towards the battlefield that Washington D.C. has become.

Garland’s version of the road movie is self-consciously polemical but thought-provoking too in its imagination of total collapse. Garland’s credits include the sci-fi dramas Ex Machina (2014) and Annihilation (2018) as well as the screenplay for the horror movie 28 Weeks Later (2007). Garland’s latest project applies his skill for delivering shock value to an uncomfortable what-if scenario.

Civil War unfolds as a sensory-heavy, nail-biting experience (especially the climactic battle in the capital). The 109-minute movie is ideology-agonistic enough to suit any political context beyond America and sharpest when considering the importance of bearing witness. Journalists record so that others...

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