Muddy Waters
Directed by Alex Garland
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura
Released April 12th, 2024
Rated R
Alex Garland, a filmmaker celebrated for his challenging work in the world of science fiction, now tackles speculative fiction in Civil War, chronicling journalists in a dystopian near-future America. In the lead up to its release, the title alone proved divisive for potential viewers, let alone the premise. This is a film designed to make audiences uncomfortable, and in that respect, the London-born writer/director has succeeded.
To give you an idea of how dire things are for the no-longer-United States in the film, the politically disparate citizens and leaders of California and Texas have joined together to create the “Western Forces” to overthrow the President of the United States (Nick Offerman). There are loyalist states, but the President, now in his third term, is widely unpopular and is facing a violent coup, possibly from the Western Forces, or maybe the “Florida Alliance.” We learn the President has dissolved the FBI and is responsible for something referred to as the “Anti-Fa Massacre,” but we aren’t privy to much more of the political climate outside of this being a second American Civil War. There are no mentions of Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, or even the Green Party.
As the nation is violently coming apart at its seams, an aspiring young war photographer, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), tags along with her idol Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), and their mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they travel to Washington, D.C. in hopes of interviewing the President. By his own admission, Sammy is too old for this line of work, but he goes forth anyway because the work is important. Joel takes delight in the more riotous nature of war zones, excited to capture moments that will be etched in the annals of history.
Lee has reservations about Jessie tagging along, but allows her to do so, mostly at the insistence of Sammy and Joel. Lee is a hardened photojournalist who is haunted by her work and in a state of shock that America has gone down this road for a second time. She says when she was shooting war-torn nations around the world, she meant for the pictures she brought home to serve as a warning for her country. Lee is disillusioned with America, and unsure if the work she is doing is important. On their way to the nation’s capital, the journalists stop in a picturesque small town seemingly unaffected by the war. Going into a clothing shop, the lady behind the counter explains that they are not unaware of the conflict, they just do their best to stay out of it. The gun-toting men on the town’s rooftops may have given a different answer. Jessie convinces Lee to try on a dress in the shop. Lee looks at her reflection with sadness. What’s the point of a dress like this? Where would she wear it? It belongs to a life that no longer exists for her. Kirsten Dunst communicates all of this without dialogue, another layered and impressive performance from an actress who has long been underrated.
Alex Garland has a history of working with fiercely talented actresses, including Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jessie Buckley, and Natalie Portman. These notable collaborations continue with the wonderful performances of Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny in Civil War. At the conclusion of the film, Dunst conveys her character’s shell-shocked reaction to an assault on our nation’s capital so well that I became scared for her mental well-being. Spaeny is the audience surrogate in many ways and has a difficult role to pull off; she must be wide-eyed and innocent, but also show that she is capable of handling tough, life-threatening situations. She aces the assignment. The tensest scene in the film comes courtesy of Jesse Plemmons, whose rose-colored glasses-wearing ultranationalist asks our journalists (and by extension, us) “What kind of American are you?” Plemmons makes such an impression that I was floored to learn that he was a last-minute replacement for an actor who had to drop out of the film. Thankfully, when that happened, Plemmons’ wife (Dunst!) recommended him to the director.
Ben Salisbury and Geoff Darrow (of the legendary trip-hop outfit Portishead) have scored previous films for Garland, and they do the same for Civil War, lacing Molotov cocktails and burning buildings with droning distortion. Their sounds do not fit what we are seeing on screen, which is possibly the point. Even the pop music in the film won’t let us relax. There is a violent passage of the film that jarringly blasts Say No Go by De La Soul. I applaud the effort behind Civil War, a jarring and unsettling film, but of all of Garland’s works, I feel this is his least fully realized movie. The story, while intense, is muddled and hazy. I struggled with what our takeaway is supposed to be. It’s a film where journalists are heroes, extolling the virtues of a free press. That is a noble position, but Civil War doesn’t make this case in a clear fashion. Civil War is a well-made movie with a lot on its mind. It’s a shame it does not have more confidence in its questions.