My Civil War (2024) Review

I just got back from the movie theatre. This movie has not left my brain, and not even watching the trailer again does it justice to gather my thoughts. I like to think of myself as a movie enthusiast, a moviegoer, and a fan, and few movies impact me like this movie. Reflecting on how this movie moved me and how I can’t remember those other movies right now, I am prompted to jot down all those movies, document that process, and have those thoughts. It’s a shame because I also am so so so behind on creating a letterbox account, and I feel like I’m talking out of my ass in this process of writing film reviews. Of course – spoilers ahead.
I don’t know what I was expecting with this one; I know I was going to see a war movie about a civil war in the United States in a modern setting. I don’t recall the year, but it feels eerily like it could be right now. The movie opens up with the president rehearsing his lines to address the nation and playing with intonation and severity in what he is trying to convey. Images of civil unrest dominated the scene as his voice states that Florida, California, and Texas have seceded. Florida apparently has failed, and now only California and Texas are the two states making up the Western Front making their way to DC to fight against the administration. We are then taken to a hotel room where Lee is watching the address – she takes a picture of the president on TV, and an explosion goes off in the distance. Lee is quiet and seemingly calm. Characteristics that I wonder must be a requirement to be an effective war photographer. The next day, at a water delivery site in NYC, we’re introduced to Lee and our other characters, a young photographer and Lee’s colleague. Soon enough, there is a terrorist attack on the site with a suicide bomber running towards the water distribution site with an American flag in tow. The aftermath is shocking, and the lack of sound elevates the macabre site and decimation of life. The scenes linger on the bodies twisted on the ground and how Lee surveys the area to take her pictures. She’s captured on camera by a young photographer, and we are transported to a hotel lobby where all the photographers convene, drinking, sharing stories, and trying to upload their images. Our group plans to go towards DC to capture the assault on DC by the Western Front and, hopefully, interview the president. We then hear that the press is shot on-site in DC as they are considered enemies, providing further context to the cultural environment this movie offers. All these pieces of information trickle down as we, as the audience, start to piece together some context for why the country is in disarray and what decisions led to the secession. California and Texas joining forces was comical, to be honest, but overall, the ambiguity delivered a lot of stress. We come to find out that the president is on his third term, dissolved the FBI, and decided to use airforce against its own citizens. Given the cultural context I am writing from, it’s so scary, and this movie raises a mirror for how we, as a country, are so fractured. I was genuinely scared. How quickly I could see the distrust already sown bloom into chaos and death amongst ourselves.
This fear stems from the fact that I have kept an eye on politics over the past years but have maintained an arm’s distance and even more, if possible, due to the stressful nature of it all. I’ve taken shelter in movies about paranormal horror, action movies, and the like – all divorced from reality to an extent. All with the purpose of avoiding real life. This movie slapped me in the face with potentiality and genuine fear of how the future may play out – it’s thankfully still fiction, yet the fear is in the back of my mind. It’s curious to see the juxtaposition of Lee’s memories flashing through her experience in other countries, how that horror and violence were captured in photos, and how she took the shot of the frankly inhumane brutality of war. She’s jaded, and she’s doing her job. She’s seen so much, and it’s perfectly balanced by the young photographer who is eager to tag along and start her career. It’s absurd to want to be a war photographer. At least for me – it is such a necessary undertaking. It’s absurd for me – but I am thankful for them to help us see and document the reality. Lee’s colleague said some approximation to the line “We take the photographs so others can tell what happened,” following the young photographer’s existential line of questioning after a stressful event. This separation of work and life and being human in the face of war, brutality, and death was something I didn’t quite understand, but I appreciated the narrative purpose of the film. It was a genuinely powerful decision to situate this movie with war photographers as opposed to the POV of citizens or soldiers as it, to a certain extent, removes intent, removes idealogy, and provides a somewhat objective standpoint from which to judge the movie’s events. I have more respect for war photographers than ever, mainly because I could perceive an approximation of their work. I’d like to hear if war photographers feel this depiction of their work and its toll on them is accurate because it felt dreadful but essential. The blurred lines of who’s who and who is right permeate their interactions with the people, refugees, and soldiers. Many of them are trying to survive, and many don’t appear to know who they are fighting against, like the soldiers in the grassy field fighting against a sniper inside the home. The sniper waiting for the perfect shot, while Lee focuses on the wildflowers. Their interactions with different people demonstrated how easily society fractured, how soldiers made choices without higher orders, and the sheer stress of the uncertainty of what they would encounter next.
Following the death of their two colleagues at the hands of the military (presumably the president’s soldiers) and the death of Sammy, an elder who provided guidance and nurture towards the others and a highly esteemed journalist, we see the trio try to process their emotions. Lee’s colleague drunkenly yells that Sammy died for nothing because the story they were chasing, that of interviewing the president, was for naught, as there were rumors of the president surrendering. This detail jolted me – it unsettled me with how their job was to document and share the reality of war, and he was just focused on the fact that death was for nothing. I don’t think it was for naught, but in war, who knows? It made it very clear I have no idea what war truly entails and what a privilege this ignorance brings.
When the Western Front takes DC, the battle is gritty; it seems natural, and the urgency, messiness, and lack of situational awareness heighten the stress of the scenes. The soldiers make their way into the white house and eviscerate multiple Secret Service soldiers, and in one of these scenes, Lee pushes the young photographer out of the way and, in saving her, is shot and dies. The young photographer takes the photograph of Lee dying and falling and then, in a state of shock, takes steps to capture the images of the soldiers and Lee’s colleague standing over the president.
Lee’s colleague asks the president for a quote, to which he responds, “Please don’t kill me,” and the soldiers then shoot him. The movie ends, and the image on the screen turns from white and slowly develops into an image of the soldiers smiling with the president’s body on the ground. I imagine the death of Lee in her attempts to save the young photographer was a kind of passing of the torch, but I will say while I recognize the value of a plot device for a young, naive character – this character annoyed me. I am tired of that tabula rasa young and wild character. It was frankly annoying to see Lee die to save the young photographer after the young photographer was reckless and did not follow the guidance of the soldiers to maintain safety in the exchange of bullets with the Secret Service. Seeing her talk her way into the trip against Lee’s wishes was annoying. It took away from the gravity of the death of Lee.
Nonetheless, the movie was intense; every situation fueled the stress even more, and throughout the entire movie-watching experience, I appreciated the prominence of nature in the background. Whether it was the wildflowers, the trees, or the forest on fire, it also presented that while we humans fight amongst each other, nature will continue to persevere. This review was word vomit; I hope it makes sense. Once I sleep and process this movie further, I may have some more valuable insights, but overall, I really liked it. I don’t think I’ll rewatch it, but the overall mission of the movie was accomplished.