Alex Garland’s Civil War

A movie about a division it never articulates

image courtesy wikipedia, “free to share and use”

Warning! This review contains spoilers.

I like Alex Garland’s work, and generally don’t have a problem with ambiguity in stories. But while that ambiguity may have served a project like “Annihilation” or “Men,” two of his previous films, it doesn’t work for “Civil War.”

Garland’s film never really explains what’s happening or why it’s happening. In fact, an understanding of the greater context feels purposefully obfuscated.

For instance, we’re told in an early scene that Texas and California have seceded from the United States.

Wait — Texas and California?

Texas, sure — there’s kind of a running joke with Texas about how it wants to separate. But California?

Perhaps Garland is exploiting the electorate who vote opposite the way the state always tips. But these are by no means swing states. The idea of them both seceding, then, seems designed to throw us off.

One possible reason Garland keeps things mysterious: he doesn’t want to risk alienating potential audience.

But I’m not so sure about this. Garland, an accomplished novelist and director, is surely a pretty smart guy. He’s got to know that everything from books to…