Civil War Trailer Presents a Divided America

Movies

If you thought family arguments at Thanksgiving were proof of a divided nation, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Today, A24 released a trailer for the upcoming sci-fi action film Civil War. Written and directed by Alex Garland (Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Ex Machina, Dredd), Civil War takes place in the future, when tensions in the United States have risen so far that states are seceding from the Union and the government goes to war with its citizens. Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemons, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Cailee Spaeny star in the film. Civil War will arrive in theaters on April 26, 2024, and you can see the trailer below:

Civil War could be a great movie, but that will largely depend on whether it’s a story about grander ideas or a piece of propaganda. The idea of the nation being torn apart and what that may lead to is a fascinating topic from which you can spin a cool and thought-provoking action movie. The thought of the government launching an attack on its own citizens is scary, as is the prospect of animosity between sections of America growing to the point where people are actually at war with each other. But you lose all that potential when you set clear party delineations or make the President a stand-in for a real political figure (and we all know who it would be). Based on the trailer, it looks like Civil War is showing restraint in that area; nobody seems like a thinly veiled substitute for an actual person, and making the seceding states Texas and California suggests they’re eschewing a partisan divide. The trailer touches on a number of potentially compelling issues, like people who want to stay out of the conflict and the role of the new media in shaping public opinion. It could be deceptive editing, but if this holds, Civil War could be a thoughtful and exciting action film. I love the idea of Nick Offerman playing the President; you could see him as someone projecting the strength and charisma it takes to win an election and possibly even handle the job – or not, as the case may be. The filmmaking itself looks good, too; I love that shot of the helicopter making its way through DC with the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument in the background. I hope this is good, but it’s going to take a lot of finger-crossing.