Alex Garland (EX MACHINA, ANNIHILATION) is the Denis Villeneuve of tomorrow. Garland makes films that lie between multiplex mainstream and arthouse, genre and avantgarde, and has quickly created a solid fan community. CIVIL WAR is a warning about the escalation of social conflicts in the US on the one hand, and a story about a hard-nosed war photographer (Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA), who takes a young, ambitious photographer (Cailee Spaeny, PRISCILLA) under her wings on the other – a classic western theme: older cowboy, younger cowboy. The narrow perspective of the photographers enables Garland to show a US civil war as a kind of episodic odyssey. The framework plot is less important than the individual episodes that highlight the devastation and confusion in the Civil War. The film begins with a bombing, Lee (Dunst) photographs the victims and saves messed-up Jessie (Spaeny). Together with writer Joel and old reporter Sammy, they try to get to Washington to reach the controversial president. The journey leads through landscapes in which there is less all-encompassing destruction than selective devastation. There’s always a house burning in the background, someone is shooting at someone else without knowing which party the person belongs to, it’s unclear who is checking at the checkpoints. Marauding gangs murder at will. Oases of peace only exist with armed snipers on the rooftops. There may be better films about war reporters (DIE FÄLSCHUNG), but as a vision of the US at war with itself, CIVIL WAR is precise, hallucinatory, and not just visually impressive. Kirsten Dunst is magnificent.

Tom Dorow (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy