In her Civil War review, Lisa Johnson Mandell writes that writer/director Alex Garland’s epic film will have a profound impact on audiences of all political persuasions. Ultimately, it’s one of the best arguments for kindness and civility ever made.

When I first heard about Civil War some months ago, I found two aspects particularly intriguing: Nick Offerman playing the president, and California and Texas siding together against the rest of the country. I couldn’t wait to see how the film explained the latter. I anticipated a dishy throwback to the 90’s disaster genre, maybe something like Armageddon or Independence Day.

But once the film started, I realized Civil War was something far more profound. It’s not a liberals vs. conservatives rant, as some people assume without even looking at the trailer. It’s a riveting, brutal, heart stopping look at the ravages of war and inhumanity.

It’s an epic that elicits a visceral response, with the impact of films like Apocalypse Now. It’s a pummeling look at what the U.S. could become, in a relatively short time, if we reject the kindness and grace inherent within our souls, and embrace violence and hatred, regardless of political persuasion.

Civil War review — an unthinkably perilous journey

From the start, the audience, like the team of intrepid journalists the film centers on, are embedded in a civil war zone, which we soon realize spans most of the nation. It’s the goal of these journalists to rush from New York to Washington D.C. to interview the U.S. President (Offerman), to photograph and record what could be the last interview he will ever give. Despite the President’s blustering optimism, the Western Forces are on the White House doorstep, and also on the brink of taking over the entire nation, leaving all consuming death and destruction along the way.

The unlikely journalistic team consists of scarred and acclaimed war photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst) her journalist partner Joel (Wagner Moura), ambitious rookie photographer (Cailee Spaeny) and aging but intrepid New York Times journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson).  All, by the way, give career topping performances.

‘The coterie sets out in a sturdy SUV, fully aware that there is no easy path for them—public transportation has been decimated, highways are blocked with blown out and abandoned cars, and forces from both sides are jealously and violently defending any patch of land they can lay claim to.

Writer/director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) gives little explanation of how California and Texas, known as the “Western Forces” and waving a two-star American flag, managed to unite against most of the rest of the country. This is intentional and brilliant, eliminating parallels with the current political milieu in the US. We see people who have no idea who they’re fighting against—they’re simply intent on killing anyone who they don’t perceive as being on their side. A particularly chilling scene with Dunst’s husband Jesse Plemons illustrates this.

Throughout the film, my eyes were either bulging open or clamped shut, my mouth gaping or covered by my hand. It made me want to run out and embrace the angriest people I know, telling them “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Civil War” evokes the terrifying realization of just how close we could be to this heretofore unthinkable world. I like to believe that it’s not too late to change that.

Rated R

1 Hour 42 minutes 49 minutes

Hear an audio version of Lisa’s Civil War review on her syndicated radio show Movies and More with Mandell and Murphy.

In her Civil War review, Lisa Johnson Mandell writes that writer/director Alex Garland’s epic film will have a profound impact on audiences of all political persuasions. Ultimately, it’s one of the best arguments for kindness and civility ever made.