Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno and Nick Offerman. Written and directed by Alex Garland. Music by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow. Budget $50 million. Running time 109 minutes.
It's sometime in the near future and America is in the middle of a Civil War, indeed the Civil War of the title, which is lucky, but not for the four plucky journos who set off on a 'Heart of Darkness' style voyage across America in an estate car to interview the President, Nick Offerman. Along the way they witness and document the war first hand with deadly consequences in Alex Garland's dystopic vision.
Blimey, what a film, the road-trip structure works well showing the disintegration of America first hand in a series of encounters and battles. The journalist's group consist of Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) a very jaded and war-weary photo-journalist, her producer Joel (Wagner Moura), her old mentor and New York Times reporter, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson, and a young aspiring photographer, Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny) who blags a lift. As they near the heart of their journey the horrors they witness become more personal and more deadly until a final assault against the capital itself.
It's been criticised for a lack of characterisation, but not by me, the characters are thinly sketched I'd agree, but you're given enough to work with and once you understood the dynamic of the group and the parts they're all playing, the film comes into focus. It's the grubbiness and smallness of it all for the most part, until a shattering and deeply tense final act in the Capital itself that's worth the admission price alone.
8/10
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