Following the, let’s charitably call it “divisive” response to 2022’s Men, filmmaker Alex Garland has suggested his next film will be his last behind the camera. If that’s true and he sticks solely to screenwriting from now on, then that makes his mysterious new project Civil War more imperative than ever to seek out. Fortunately, A24 has dropped the first trailer this morning for what could be another polarizing effort from Garland.
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Cailee Spaeny, Karl Glusman, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonica T. Gibbs, and Jess Matney with appearances by Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman, Civil War is definitely going to piss some people off. Garland has previously talked about the political nature of the film, and we can see that it seems to spin out of events similar to January 6th. Dunst’s character is a war journalist on a race to the White House as America is split down the middle ideologically and fighting has broken out.
The synopsis doesn’t give away much: A race to the White House in a near-future America balanced on the razor’s edge.
Garland’s influence over multiple genres is greater than I think people realize. Besides the movies he’s directed, which include Ex Machina and Annihilation, he’s also penned 28 Days Later, Dredd, Never Let Me Go, and Sunshine, all incredible sci-fi films deserving of your time.
A24 plans to release Civil War into theaters on April 26th 2025.
