CIVIL WAR, released in theaters in the first half of 2024, is a film directed by Alex Garland, the British director who achieved critical acclaim after directing EX MACHINA in 2015. With CIVIL WAR, he faces the difficult challenge of making a hypothetical military conflict in the United States of America believable, a conflict covered by a group of journalists willing to do anything to get to the truth. The story takes place in the 21st century and raises the possibility of the collapse of the United States. The topic is of interest at a time when current affairs scholars are racking their brains considering the fall of the Americans and the rise of their rivals. CIVIL WAR transforms from a film into a question: Will the political disputes between Republicans and Democrats lead to a war in the United States?

CIVIL WAR is a war film, but seen through the eyes of a war photographer. These are unique people, because when the instinct for survival dictates escape, they run toward danger and face it without fear of turning into a pillar of salt. CIVIL WAR is a road movie. It recalls the journey to hell in Dante's DIVINE COMEDY or Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW. Like these works, Garland's film is full of narrative qualities, in this case, cinematic ones. A fluid mise-en-scène, a sound of explosions and gunfire that sends shivers down your spine, and a solid construction of characters that irresistibly captivates the viewer. It transcends mere entertainment when the audience becomes aware that what it presents is based on the polarization that the United States has experienced after the Covid-19 pandemic. To what extent does Garland go from being a film director to an expert oracle on matters of war?

The 21st century has been marked by the idea of the disappearance of cameras in favor of mobile phones. But CIVIL WAR sets the record straight once again. In the film, an experienced war photographer mentors a young woman who aspires to follow in her footsteps. Paradoxically, the older woman uses a new-generation Sony digital camera, while the apprentice works with a Nikon from the 1980s. In the midst of battle, time stands still, and the viewer gains access to what the cameras see at the moment of taking the photos. The Sony is shown in color, the Nikon in black and white, with a poetic grain of photographic texture. The director thus establishes his position on how history is recorded and how it is remembered. Although CIVIL WAR is far from sentimental, lovers of photography and the printed word will be touched by the confirmation that their taste remains relevant and full of communicative and expressive power. CIVIL WAR possesses the power of someone who dares to predict the storm and fears they might be right. Those who see this film will recall great classics of the genre and witness the emergence of a new cult classic for cinephiles.