I’m not sure why IMDb has Alex Garland’s “Civil War” listed as 3 hours 15 minutes. It’s not. It’s 1 hour 49 minutes, but that was enough of a rumor for Variety to set the record straight this morning.
God forbid “Civil War” was actually that long. It doesn’t look like the kind of film that would benefit from length. One thing’s for sure though, the film is being talked about by a lot of people.
The trailer, released two weeks ago by A24, already has 11 million views on YouTube. The film has crossed over to the political sphere with many implying that it might mirror an, already divided, America that’s about to explode in political violence next year.
It’s a domestic war film, where journalists try to reach the White House as anarchy is seen everywhere. Garland, the mind behind “Ex-Machina” and “Annihilation,” seems to be going for a more conventional approach in his narrative this time around.
The film has “Citizens of America, the so-called Western forces of Texas and California having suffered a very great defeat at the hands of the United States military,” with Nick Offerman portraying the U.S. President.
Kirsten Dunst plays a war photographer in a world where government air strikes are used against civilians, and journalists are shot on sight at the Capitol. In the trailer, you notice immense pessimism in the filmmaking, as if Garland’s trying to tell you, “THIS is how bad things can get.”
The film is being released in April 2024, and by that time Donald Trump might have already clinched the Republican nomination, despite multiple indictments set against him, which half the country believes to be political and the other half claims is justified. Meanwhile, the Democrats will no doubt be fighting hard to prevent him from getting re-elected as President.
Should be a fun year.
At a post-trailer Q&A for “Werwulf,” which opens Christmas Day, Eggers explained why his next movie is Shakespeare’s teen tragedy rather than another gloomy medieval tale.