NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Alex Garland鈥檚 films have vividly conjured a virus-caused pandemic (2002's 鈥28 Days Later鈥), an uncontrollable artificial intelligence (2014鈥檚 鈥淓x Machina鈥) and, in his latest, a near-future America in the throes of all-out warfare.
Most filmmakers with such a record might claim some knack for tapping into the zeitgeist. But Garland doesn鈥檛 see it that way. He鈥檚 dealing, he says, with omnipresent realities that demand no great leaps of vision. He wrote 鈥淐ivil War" in 2020, when societies around the world were unraveling over and the prospect of societal breakdown was on everyone鈥檚 minds.
鈥淭hat was pretty deafening back then,鈥 Garland says. 鈥淪o in a way, it鈥檚 slightly past zeitgeist. It鈥檚 actually oppressive.鈥
鈥淐ivil War鈥 is an ominous attempt to turn widely held American anxieties into a violent, unsettling big-screen reality. Garland鈥檚 film opens Friday 鈥 the anniversary, to the day, of when the Civil War began in 1861. And it's landing in movie theaters just months ahead of , making it potentially Hollywood鈥檚 most explosive movie of the year.
For months, the arrival of 鈥淐ivil War鈥 has been closely tracked as numerous trailers have drummed up intrigue. Texas and California aligned? 鈥淪cience fiction,鈥 wrote one commentor. Another said: 鈥淭his single movie had the best 8 year marketing campaign of all time.鈥
Yet 鈥淐ivil War鈥 is something far more oblique than its matter-of-fact title. The film, which Garland wrote and directed, isn鈥檛 mapped directly against today鈥檚 polarization. In a war that鈥檚 already ravaged the country, California and Texas have joined forces against a fascist president (Nick Offerman) who鈥檚 seized a third term and disbanded the FBI.
A band of journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura) makes its way toward Washington, D.C. Much of the film鈥檚 disquiet comes from seeing visceral encounters of war 鈥 bombings, fire fights and executions 鈥 on contemporary American soil. ("Civil War," to take advantage of tax breaks, was mostly shot in Georgia.) For everyone who has in recent years wondered 鈥淗ow bad can it get?鈥 鈥 here is a sobering answer.
鈥淲hen things collapse, the speed at which they collapse tends to surprise people 鈥 including people like intelligence officers whose job is to watch and predict when these things will happen,鈥 Garland said in a recent interview. 鈥淭hings are always in a slightly more dangerous state than they might appear.鈥
The rapidity with which society can disintegrate has long fascinated Garland, the 53-year-old British born filmmaker who emerged with the screenplay to the zombie apocalypse thriller 鈥28 Days Later.鈥 Western democracies, he says, can lean too much on their sense of exceptionalism. To him, 鈥淐ivil War鈥 isn鈥檛 an act of cynicism. It鈥檚 a warning shot.
鈥淭he consequences of it are so serious that to not take the threat seriously would, itself, be another kind of insanity,鈥 says Garland. 鈥淚t would just be complacent.鈥
In past election seasons, Hollywood has sometimes looked to channel, reflect or capitalize or political discord. Ahead of the 2020 election, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions released 鈥淭he Hunt,鈥 a 鈥淢ost Dangerous Game鈥 riff in which liberals kidnap 鈥渞ednecks鈥 and 鈥渄eplorables鈥 to hunt on a private preserve. After the film became engulfed in right-wing criticism (then-President Trump said it was 鈥渕ade in order to inflame and cause chaos鈥), When 鈥淭he Hunt鈥 eventually hit theaters in March 2020, it revealed
While there have been questioning the appropriateness of the timing for 鈥淐ivil War,鈥 controversy hasn鈥檛 yet clung to it. That might be owed to Garland鈥檚 approach. There are few direct allusions to the deepest fissures of American politics today in the film. Joining Texas and California together removes any 鈥渂lue state鈥 vs. 鈥渞ed state鈥 dichotomy. Neither race nor income inequality appear as issues of division. The president's political party is unspecified.
鈥淚 had never read a script like this,鈥 said Dunst at . 鈥淎nd I had never seen a film like this.鈥
鈥淐ivil War,鈥 set in a near-future, instead plays out with more subtle connections to today's fractured politics and cultural splits. Jesse Plemons plays a heinous militant who interrogates the main characters, asking them: 鈥淲hat kind of American are you?鈥 Though it's never seen, Charlottesville, Virginia 鈥 site of 鈥 is referred to as a battle front.
Asked about that choice, Garland replies: 鈥淭he film is just reporting."
But the director acknowledges finding the right balance was a challenge.
鈥淵es, it was a (expletive) delicate balance,鈥 Garland says. 鈥淲e thought about it, we discussed it, we talked about what was appropriate. Look, the plan is to make a compelling and engaging film, and the product of the compelling and engaging film is a conversation. So the questions are: How do you make sure that you鈥檙e not dismantling a conversation in the first part of that equation?鈥
That led to Garland foregrounding 鈥淐ivil War鈥 with journalists. As much as anything, Garland's film is about the central role reporters play in capturing critical events in lethal conditions. Unbiased reporting, Garland says, has been eroded. In 鈥淐ivil War,鈥 it's literally under attack.
鈥淲hat I wanted to do was present journalists as reporters," Garland says. 鈥淭hey may be conflicted, they may be compromised as individuals, but they鈥檙e holding on to an idea of journalism.鈥
鈥淐ivil War,鈥 which cost $50 million to make, is the largest budgeted film yet from A24. The indie studio is pushing to expand its reach beyond arthouses ("Civil War" will play on IMAX screens) and expand the reach of its critical acclaimed films. 鈥淐ivil War鈥 is, ironically, a bid to draw wider audiences.
鈥淎 lot of the boldness is not actually mine,鈥 says Garland. 鈥淚 think it belongs to A24. You would find there are always people attempting to make these films. The question is whether they鈥檝e been given the support to make them.鈥
鈥淐ivil War鈥 is just a possibility, the director stresses, not a prediction. Still, months after he finished writing it, Garland watched an insurrection play out on live television when . At the time, his thoughts weren't on his script.
鈥淲hat I had was this incredibly intense feeling that this is a disgrace,鈥 says Garland. 鈥淟ater, as time went by, some of that anger fed into the project. Not so much in terms of rewriting scenes or dialogue or anything. But more to do with an internal sense of motivation. Something that felt more distant felt less distant.鈥
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This story first moved April 9, 2024, and was updated on April 16, 2024, to remove a reference to a poll.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
