Is This Really The Kind of Movie We Should Be Watching in 2024?
In the soon-to-be-released “Civil War,” a near-future coalition of the most populous states in America - California, Texas and Florida joining in - decide to secede from the United States and wage armed conflict against an authoritarian president. As far as we know from some news reports. Price-tagged at a $50 million budget and created by British director Alex Garland, it’s prompting many of us to ask: Is this really the best film to watch during the most toxic and schismatic election in modern U.S. history?
The film is intended to be a conversation, so it doesn’t assert too much,” the British director said in a post-screening Q&A. “But I also believe that everybody understands internally why. This is also true of my country and many, many other countries that are dealing with the effects of polarization and populism: We don’t need it explained. We know exactly why it might happen. We know exactly what the fault lines and the pressures are.
Clearly, we’re right in the thick of tense times as the general election for president and Congress and other seats near nears. Recent comments about a “bloodbath” from one particular candidate do not help the situation, mixed in with the (poorly and) conveniently timed extra circulation of the “Civil War” trailer as March Madness is underway. On top of that are grim American attitudes about the direction of the country captured in recent polling …
Psychologically, this doesn’t feel like the right kind of content at the time. But there’s so much controversial and explicit content out there these days that some might argue if it even matters. Still, it seems like we could use a blockbuster movie that offers some inspiring ideas on how to fix the moment rather than one designed to exploit it as a marketing scheme. We’ll just save full judgment till we see it.