Civil War

Alex Garland’s new film takes care not to paint the various sides of the conflict as Red or Blue (a Texas-California alliance, really?), while still exploring the horrors of a United States in which violence is seen as a legitimate expression of political frustration and distaste. Following a car full of war journalists (led by a career-rejuvenating turn by Kirsten Dunst) through the war-torn Eastern Seaboard, it explores the costs and dangers of unbending “us or them” mentalities.  

“In a hotly divisive, post Jan. 6 election year, Alex Garland embeds us with journalists, led by a wow Kirsten Dunst, covering a speculative second war between the states. The result is the most original and propulsively exciting movie of the year so far.” – Peter Travers, ABC News
“It’s a searingly focused “what if” that eschews partisan soapboxes as it takes a hard-eyed look at everything war warps and takes.” -Hayden Mears, Chicago Reader
“This is a visceral and thought-provoking exploration of the human cost of conflict. It is a captivating and unforgettable cinematic experience.” -Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
“A thrillingly dark road trip, studded by moments of explosive tension and dangerous misjudgment that play less like bite-size episodes of “The Last of Us” than signposts of an overall political condition.” – Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times
“[Garland’s] movie is designed not to please but to provoke, and it captures a world turned upside down with the same remove as a war photographer’s camera.” -Adam Graham, Detroit News
“”Civil War” takes what many whisper about in these divisive, polarizing times and turns it into a smartly crafted, suspenseful, propulsive thriller that manages to make a statement without tipping Garland’s political hand too much.” -Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
“As a political statement, Civil War is provocative and occasionally exasperating; as a purely cinematic experience, it is urgent, heart-in-mouth, extraordinary stuff.” -John Nugent, Empire Magazine
“Once you understand that Civil War isn’t about what you think, you can appreciate it for what it actually is: a searing meditation on what happens when political orders collapse and violence takes on a sinister logic of its own.” -Zack Bauchamp, Vox
“It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping.” -Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“Garland’s dystopian supposition shows us that in a nation when citizens take up arms against each other, it is everyone who fails.” -Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

Civil War opens at The Clyde on Friday, May 10 and shows at 7:30 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.