Alex Garland's ‘Civil War' Polarizes SXSW

Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is getting polarized reactions over at the SXSW Film Festival. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the subject matter.

Last night, the first reactions on social media were flat-out glowing, with many calling it a “masterpiece.” As you know, the “M” word has been hijacked these last few years, watered-down, if you will, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s again being misused for Garland’s film.

The mixed-to-positive reviews are coming to us from The Guardian, Mashable, Screen, Deadline, IndieWire, The Wrap and Rolling Stone.

Now, the glowing reactions stem from Variety, The Playlist, , The Austin Chronicle, Polygon, THR, The Wrap, Slash Film, The Film Stage, Perri Nemiroff, and RogerEbert.

There are “Children of Men” comparisons, which is music to my ears, but I don’t believe Garland has the same technical chops in him, as Cuaron and Lubezki, to pull that off. I’m ready to be surprised. Someone on X is also calling it Garland’s “Apocalypse Now.”

The heroic figures in “Civil War” are the journalists, and, supposedly, the main ones are conservative, not liberal, which must be a purposeful creative decision done by Garland. I don’t believe he wanted to take sides — that’s also why Texas and California, for some reason, are allied forces in the film.

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,” enlists Kirsten Dunst to play a war photographer in a world where government air strikes are used against civilians, and journalists are shot on sight at the Capitol.

Here’s an excerpt from the Guardian’s 3-star review:

The president has abused executive power by authorizing drone strikes against American citizens and disbanding the FBI, but his political party, agenda or ideology stays unspecified. There are no obvious delineations by race, gender or class; characters’ allusions to a “real America” remain vague.

Nick Offerman’s U.S. President is said to be a Trump-esque figure, some are comparing his look, late in the film, to Steve Bannon. Garland also uses 2020 protest footage to get his point across. There’s also a battleground populated by refugee camps and mass graves. With that said, Garland believes it “wasn’t necessary to lay out the politics” in the film. He’s more inclined to describe “Civil War” as being about the “dangers of polarization."

At the SXSW post-screening Q&A, Garland admitted that he didn’t want to say outright what the characters in his film are fighting for. It’s more about depicting a near-future U.S. at the climax of a civil war where the two most populous states have seceded. The politics that landed the country in such chaos are never explained.

“Civil War” is being released on April 12, 2024, via A24.