Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (2024)

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Civil War.A24's new action blockbuster Civil War has a somewhat ambiguous central message. The Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) film explores a fictional near-future scenario in which the United States has been divided into several factions that fight against a totalitarian government led by a fascist president. While the specific cause of Civil War's conflict is left intentionally unclear by Garland, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, the ending of Civil War arrives with a sense of victory for its guerrilla journalist protagonists. Civil War's impressive box office performance has already made it one of the highest-grossing movies of 2024.

Civil War's cast is led by Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Wagner Moura (Narcos), and Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla). The film also features brief performances by Nick Offerman as a rogue and unchecked American president and Jesse Plemons as an opportunistic and corrupt American soldier. What is arguably missing from Garland's Civil War is a clear thesis of how the United States realistically got to this extreme point of internal conflict. The film is not concerned with the plausible details and political considerations that exist in the modern United States. Instead, Civil War skims over these foundational details to focus on the front-and-center realities of war in general, regardless of any particular motivations.

Civil War's Sniper Shootout Explains The Movie's Central Point

Civil War doesn't get into much political philosophy

Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (1)

The point of the scene, and the movie at large, is that the conflict throughout Civil War is about who is shooting at you, not necessarily what side you are fighting for.

There are several powerful and intense scenes in Civil War that allude to the film's main concept, but none of them are more spot on than the scene between two snipers. Moura, Dunst, Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson's characters are trying to pass through a rural road on their way to Washington D.C. when they realize that somebody with a sniper rifle is shooting at them. They are able to get out of their vehicle and rush for cover, where they encounter two other militant men, one with a sniper rifle and the other one spotting him. Naturally, Spaeny's naively curious Jessie character asks them who they are shooting at and discovers that they have no idea who the other sniper is.

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Kirsten Dunst plays a hardened veteran war photographer in Alex Garland's Civil War who only deletes one tragic photo in the entire film.

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The point of the scene, and the movie at large, is that the conflict throughout Civil War is about who is shooting at you, not necessarily what side you are fighting for. Typically, wars are fought under separate flags and are fueled by nationalist ideals, but Civil War doesn't get into much political philosophy to explain its conflict, which creates more of a survivalist free-for-all mentality in some of the war-torn areas. While the bigger picture revolves around the Western Forces and the Florida Alliance rebelling against the federal government and the unchecked U.S. President, much of the conflict is just about survival and not about any political ideals.

The President's Death Scene Explains Civil War's Political Meaning

The Western Forces and Florida Alliance aim to end fascist rule in the U.S.

Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (3)

Joel, like the rest of the journalists, is only invested in documenting the moments that can be sold and sensationalized through the press.

Most of Civil War is told through the eyes of the journalists, who are conditioned not to be biased about the war and to only capture tragic the realities of it. As documentarians, their job is to stay out of the conflict as much as possible so that they can capture and record real moments of the war that would otherwise go unseen. While this is the main idea of their profession, it becomes more clear throughout the film that the journalists lean more on the side of the Western Forces and the Florida Alliance, particularly because they are offered access and protection in the warzone areas from those parties.

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Civil War's United States has been splintered into multiple warring factions, but a shared enemy has united most of them against the Loyalist States.

On the other side, American soldiers under the command of Offerman's President have been instructed to kill journalists on sight, which essentially says without saying that the journalists are quietly rooting against the rise of fascism in the United States. When Offerman's President is killed at the end of Civil War, Moura's character asks for a quote moments before the fascist ruler is shot to death. The President begs, "Don't let them kill me," and Moura's Joel says, "That'll do." Joel, like the rest of the journalists, is only invested in documenting the moments that can be sold and sensationalized through the press, although if he were asked to choose, he would likely be part of the resistance.

Jessie Photographing War Explains Civil War's View Of Journalism

Jessie's innocence is completely ruined by her profession

Jessie learns throughout Civil War that in order to do her job well, she must be emotionless and essentially have no opinion on the events that are happening around her. She exercises this by photographing one of the soldiers dying as well as shooting Dunst's Lee character after she was shot and killed at the end of Civil War. Jesse's innocence is completely ruined at that moment. Her tragic maturation process is solidified when she takes the final shot of Joel and a few of the Western Forces soldiers standing over the dead president in what would theoretically be the most important photo in American history. Jesse would then become a celebrity photographer like Lee for playing a major role in shaping history through her work.

Civil War's Politics & Real Meaning Are Easily Misunderstood

Civil War wisley chose not to get too real with political divides in the U.S.

Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (5)

Civil War turned out to be more of a character study and a concept film than a traditional war movie.

Not all viewers of Civil War caught onto what Garland was going for and misunderstood the overall point of the movie. While many people were expecting a classic war film like Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down with a variety of action-packed scenes and moments of heroism, Civil War turned out to be more of a character study and a concept film than a traditional war movie. Of course, there have been other successful war movies with an overarching theme or message, such as Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, but Civil War was less interested in glorifying war and violence and instead stayed focused on Lee, Joel, Sammy, and Jessie's stories.

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Civil War Soundtrack Guide: Every Song In A24's Movie

The soundtrack for Alex Garland's A24 dystopian thriller, Civil War, is full of atmospheric tracks that span a range of decades and genres.

Additionally, Civil War wisely chose not to get into a realistic depiction of a modern-day civil war in the United States that would quickly become political and thus, heated. When the trailer for Civil War was first released, not only was it built up to be an epic war movie but it also confused viewers by having California and Texas, two of the biggest and most politically opposite states in the country, on the same side. By choosing not to pit California and Texas against each other or get too deep into the President's political agenda outside of his unconstitutional and fascist abuse of power, Civil War avoids dividing audiences or making viewers uncomfortable.

Civil War's Ambiguous Political Stance Is The Key To Alex Garland's Movie

Tossing real-world politics into the film would have defeated its purpose

Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (7)

As with any good movie, Civil War's premise establishes a unified foundation and a clear enemy that the protagonists can work toward and fight against. Tossing real-world politics into the film would have defeated the purpose of Civil War being a blockbuster film as opposed to a documentary or some other type of more journalistic content.

Offerman's President is simply named President and was not meant to represent any one particular person. Instead, Offerman represents the notion of the cowardly dictator who holds onto his power and depicts the dangers of a world leader gone rogue. Civil War isn't necessarily realistic enough to be cautionary, but it still drives home important messages about the significance and value of democracy and freedom.

Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (8)
Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (9)

7/10

Civil War

R

Action

Drama

Civil War is a 2024 action thriller from writer and director Alex Garland. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Civil Wartakes place in the near future and shows the United States entering a new Civil War after California and Texas attempt to separate from the country.

Director
Alex Garland

Release Date
April 12, 2024

Studio(s)
DNA Films

Distributor(s)
A24
Writers
Alex Garland
Cast
Kirsten Dunst , Wagner Moura , Cailee Spaeny , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Nelson Lee , Nick Offerman , Jefferson White , Evan Lai , Vince Pisani , Justin James Boykin , Jess Matney , Greg Hill , Edmund Donovan , Sonoya Mizuno , Tim James , Simeon Freeman , James Yaegashi , Dean Grimes , Alexa Mansour , Martha B. Knighton , Melissa Saint-Amand , Karl Glusman , Jin Ha

Runtime
109 Minutes
Civil War's Real Meaning Explained: What Point The Movie Is Trying To Make (2024)
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