Kirsten Dunst
Lee
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Why to watch
- 'Civil War' is a road trip movie set in a horrifying what-if scenario
- When: Civil War is in theaters and IMAX on April 12.
- What to know: The latest from writer-director Alex Garland imagines a United States at war with itself.
- The plot follows three generations of journalists — played by Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson — on a dangerous trip from New York to Washington, D.C.
- Garland wrote the film during the 2020 election but tells Yahoo Entertainment its release during the 2024 election cycle is coincidental and due to “logistical requirements.”
- While there are some allusions to recent social unrest early in the film, the world of Civil War is wholly fictional and does not concern itself with present-day party politics.
- Promotion for the film hints at a complicated backstory with multiple distinct factions vying for power — but one of Civil War’s greatest strengths is that almost none of this is explained and it is open to viewer interpretation.
- Garland hopes Civil War will spark earnest conversation about the potential consequences of extremism, “because conversation is the thing that is really struggling to exist in public discourse.”
- — Sam Matthews, executive producer
- April 10, 2024
