(OPINION) The upcoming release of A24’s Civil War during a contentious presidential election year comes amid worrying about the prospect of an actual civil war — or, at least, real-life political violence — and has some questioning the movie’s timing.
The film from acclaimed writer-director Alex Garland (Ex Machina) imagines a near-future dystopia where the United States has been torn apart under the authoritarian rule of a three-term president (Nick Offerman). The story follows a journalist (Kirsten Dunst) as she makes her way across this freshly divided states of America (trailer below).
Civil War hasn’t been seen yet by the media or audiences (its world premiere is next week at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival), so criticism of its content is arguably premature and — at minimum — lacks considerable context.
The film’s trailers suggest Civil War isn’t some obvious left-wing/right-wing polemic given that Texas and California are allies in its fictional conflict.
Still, given the Jan. 6 riots that attempted to de-certify the 2020 presidential election and the likelihood of a Joe Biden and Donald Trump re-match, some find it impossible not to see the movie as a pointed commentary on our current divisive times — regardless of its fictional premise — and question whether its release is appropriate coming seven months before the presidential election.
The bulk of such reactions to Civil War seem to come from the left side of the political spectrum, and their take goes like this: Regardless of the film’s (presumably pro-unity) message, the film is uncomfortably timely and its “us vs. us” warfare will become MAGA fantasy fuel.
“The idea of another American civil war happening today actually keeps me up at night,” wrote one reader on an American Civil War subreddit. “This is a movie that I want to keep far away from. Even if it’s based on a political scenario so far removed from our own. I just do not want to entertain the notion of something so horrible.”
“A movie about a second American Civil War in an election year in which the second American Civil War is a serious concern among law-enforcement and rational people alike?” wrote another.
Opined another: “There are other Timothy McVeighs out there who will be like ‘[this movie is] exactly what this country needs’ … The potential danger is that [right-wing] groups are not known for media literacy or nuance.
And a psychotic gang of rednecks committing terrorism [in the film] to ‘own the libs’ might be obvious criticism to us, but might be interpreted as a role model to MAGA groups if not portrayed carefully.’”
“I know a ton of people (probably myself included) who don’t want to see it because its just kind of uncomfortable to watch a movie that we might be living in 4-5 years,” added another.
“Unless this movie does something very clever with the premise, it’s just political porn essentially. Using political tensions going on right now as a crutch to get people emotionally invested.”
While civil war hand-wringing might sound like fringe thinking, a 2022 poll by YouGov and the Economist found that 40 percent of Americans believe a new civil war is “at least somewhat likely in the next 10 years.”
A Zogby poll found similar. That number drops to 14 percent when you only include those who “strongly” believe it. Last week, Ru Paul drew headlines by declaring in a New Yorker profile that the U.S. is “moments away from fucking civil war. I’m fearing the absolute worst. All the signs are there.”
