A Civil-War Movie With No One Worth Cheering
In Alex Garland’s new film,
Civil War, the United States has fallen into an internecine conflict pitting the government against separatist forces—a narrative with
uncomfortable resonance in these politically polarized times. Unlike in our own world, it’s never really clear in the movie why the nation is fighting itself. We kick off with vague talk of “western forces” and an implausible-sounding alliance between Texas and California, but there isn’t much more explanatory world-building. All we know is that America is a battleground; the other blanks can be filled in however you’d like.
