In a near-future that finds America engaged in a second Civil War With various factions involved, a Journalist named Lee (Kirsten Dunst), travels to Washington D.C. to get an interview with the President.
There is a sense of urgency and real danger as atrocities abound from various factions and the Press are often killed on-site under tyrannical rule.
With The belief that the opposing forces may soon take D.C. despite the propaganda, Lee and her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), along with rival mentor Sammy (Stephen Mckinley Henderson), and aspiring Journalist Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), venture from New York across war-torn America where roads are no longer safe and dangers lurk everywhere.
Along the way they encounter a fractured world where factions regularly execute prisoners, lawless vigilante actions, and towns that go on as usual pretending the conflict is not raging around them.
Writer/Director Alex Garland does not go into much detail about the cause of the conflict or the various factions, as he lets the human story of weary journalists so hardened by what they cover that they snap photos without much emotion regarding the carnage they are seeing but cannot handle it on a personal level.
The film is more of a character-driven Road Trip until the final act when the conflict hits a decisive point.
In the end “Civil War” is a well-acted and chilling look at the breakdown of society and characters who have become hardened by war.
4 stars out of 5
