Reilly, really loved your review and you're a great writer, and it really made me want to leave a comment because I completely disagree with almost everything you said.
First of all, I had a totally different context for seeing the movie - Erin was out of town and I went on a whim not knowing much about the film and halfway through realizing I saw a poster on like reddit or something. So I will say hype does change my perspective.
First - the marketing, which again I saw after the film and totally changes my perspective BUT I love that they made a world and only showed us 1 slice of it. Leaving the rest to our imagination with only the breadcrumbs of teasers to go off of. Too many movies today explain EVERYTHING and I like that they focused in on one aspect of life there leaving us to only assume we know what's going on. It doesn't matter to the plot so why not let our imaginations run wild? The movie had a good run time, so why complicate? If it was a TV show that would be a little different and could be done like man in the high castle but as a movie I think by focusing on one aspect they really built out the characters, their motivations, and also we got a great sense of what NY-DC area was like rather than half versions of all those things, so I do think it was a good choice.
I thought the disengagement from current politics was also a great decision. It dissociates it from our current political alignment, which can change, and I think will make it more timeless. Idk maybe this is a bold and horrible prediction, but a civil war, as shown in that movie, is not happening any time soon, so setting it in the present day, but making it an alignment that never could happen today just let me relax and enjoy it.
I think the above is your main complaint, that he doesn't wrestle with what a civil war in our current polarized state would look like. I'm so relieved he didn't try. I think it's impossible and I'm tired of commentaries on things like that. There's no way to do it well in my opinion, so making current day style characters we can relate to, technology we understand, but a totally unrealistic political alignment made me like the movie more than if he made some grand commentary on trump voters.
The "quaint shop" scene - I think this was as much about how we normalize crazy things as it was saying not everyone is involved in the civil war. Most people were just living their lives. They're there, they exist, and they might be the majority in this world. I thought it was good to engage with them to in show that and also provide a counterbalance to how intense the main characters' lives were.
I also just want to mention my favorite quote in the movie I don't think you got to but when Kristen dunst asks the guy why he's shooting at them and they say "because they're shooting at me" that right there encapsulates the movie for me. It's not necessarily just about a potential US Civil War it's about all war. It's pointless but you need to stay alive so you shoot the people who are shooting at you.
Now on to my biggest complaint about the movie, which of course has to do with the logistics. I saw this movie right after a trip I took from DC to Charlottesville to Philadelphia and let me tell you, it makes no sense to go from NYC to Charlottesville and then to DC and somehow avoid DC on the way. I think he chose Charlottesville because it's such a a lightning rod town now, and sure that's fine, but they could have chosen like Gettysburg or something as a place to gather before the great attack. It's just such a sn unnecessary risk to go around DC that they hardly even grapple with. Come on!
Anyway loved reading your review, and then writing a review of your review. So goes my first substack comment ever and hope to see you again soon to yell about civil war in person.
What a thoughtful comment—thank you for reading my review and sharing your perspective! Here are my thoughts:
I completely agree that marketing and context shape how we experience provocative films like this. The marketing whiplash definitely colored my take, leaving me feeling deceived in a way you weren’t. And the AI images were too juicy not to mention—what a wild piece of inside baseball.
I appreciate the value of letting viewers’ imaginations fill in the gaps, but for me, what we were shown and told made that element more frustrating than delightful, but that was just my personal reaction.
You make a great point about framing the conflict as separate from today’s social divides, making the story feel more timeless and self-contained. That said, choosing to set a film about a future US Civil War without tying it to current divides or giving much backstory left me (and others) feeling starved of necessary context. Garland doesn't owe us a movie that perfectly chimes in on Trump's America, but he also can't be surprised that so many felt his oddly vague/British drive-by take on American polarization landed oddly and left a lot to be desired. Zooming out, Garland’s refusal to ground the war in any real-life context or political stakes made it hard for me to fully appreciate the world and the conflict. Civil wars aren’t apolitical, a-temporal, or contextless, so this choice struck me as odd.
Our world is so grim that yes it was nice to have this movie not pile on about how screwed we are or aren't. Ironically, despite being Trump-free, the movie was so grim, violent, and nihilistic that I still left feeling hollow and bitter. Perhaps that was Garland’s real goal.
Your take on the quaint shop scene helped me see its purpose for the first time—thanks for that! It really does highlight how mundane life carries on in conflict zones. For another perspective on this, Derry Girls does something similar (albeit very differently) and is well worth a watch—I’ve written about it on this blog before.
I also loved your point about the “they’re shooting at me” quote—so succinctly capturing the futility of war. And you’re absolutely right about the geography goof; I suspect that’s a wrinkle of Garland writing a US-set story from a UK perspective.
Thanks again for reading and for generously sharing your thoughts! Let’s definitely catch up over a beer to chat movies sometime.
Reilly, really loved your review and you're a great writer, and it really made me want to leave a comment because I completely disagree with almost everything you said.
First of all, I had a totally different context for seeing the movie - Erin was out of town and I went on a whim not knowing much about the film and halfway through realizing I saw a poster on like reddit or something. So I will say hype does change my perspective.
First - the marketing, which again I saw after the film and totally changes my perspective BUT I love that they made a world and only showed us 1 slice of it. Leaving the rest to our imagination with only the breadcrumbs of teasers to go off of. Too many movies today explain EVERYTHING and I like that they focused in on one aspect of life there leaving us to only assume we know what's going on. It doesn't matter to the plot so why not let our imaginations run wild? The movie had a good run time, so why complicate? If it was a TV show that would be a little different and could be done like man in the high castle but as a movie I think by focusing on one aspect they really built out the characters, their motivations, and also we got a great sense of what NY-DC area was like rather than half versions of all those things, so I do think it was a good choice.
I thought the disengagement from current politics was also a great decision. It dissociates it from our current political alignment, which can change, and I think will make it more timeless. Idk maybe this is a bold and horrible prediction, but a civil war, as shown in that movie, is not happening any time soon, so setting it in the present day, but making it an alignment that never could happen today just let me relax and enjoy it.
I think the above is your main complaint, that he doesn't wrestle with what a civil war in our current polarized state would look like. I'm so relieved he didn't try. I think it's impossible and I'm tired of commentaries on things like that. There's no way to do it well in my opinion, so making current day style characters we can relate to, technology we understand, but a totally unrealistic political alignment made me like the movie more than if he made some grand commentary on trump voters.
The "quaint shop" scene - I think this was as much about how we normalize crazy things as it was saying not everyone is involved in the civil war. Most people were just living their lives. They're there, they exist, and they might be the majority in this world. I thought it was good to engage with them to in show that and also provide a counterbalance to how intense the main characters' lives were.
I also just want to mention my favorite quote in the movie I don't think you got to but when Kristen dunst asks the guy why he's shooting at them and they say "because they're shooting at me" that right there encapsulates the movie for me. It's not necessarily just about a potential US Civil War it's about all war. It's pointless but you need to stay alive so you shoot the people who are shooting at you.
Now on to my biggest complaint about the movie, which of course has to do with the logistics. I saw this movie right after a trip I took from DC to Charlottesville to Philadelphia and let me tell you, it makes no sense to go from NYC to Charlottesville and then to DC and somehow avoid DC on the way. I think he chose Charlottesville because it's such a a lightning rod town now, and sure that's fine, but they could have chosen like Gettysburg or something as a place to gather before the great attack. It's just such a sn unnecessary risk to go around DC that they hardly even grapple with. Come on!
Anyway loved reading your review, and then writing a review of your review. So goes my first substack comment ever and hope to see you again soon to yell about civil war in person.
Alex,
What a thoughtful comment—thank you for reading my review and sharing your perspective! Here are my thoughts:
I completely agree that marketing and context shape how we experience provocative films like this. The marketing whiplash definitely colored my take, leaving me feeling deceived in a way you weren’t. And the AI images were too juicy not to mention—what a wild piece of inside baseball.
I appreciate the value of letting viewers’ imaginations fill in the gaps, but for me, what we were shown and told made that element more frustrating than delightful, but that was just my personal reaction.
You make a great point about framing the conflict as separate from today’s social divides, making the story feel more timeless and self-contained. That said, choosing to set a film about a future US Civil War without tying it to current divides or giving much backstory left me (and others) feeling starved of necessary context. Garland doesn't owe us a movie that perfectly chimes in on Trump's America, but he also can't be surprised that so many felt his oddly vague/British drive-by take on American polarization landed oddly and left a lot to be desired. Zooming out, Garland’s refusal to ground the war in any real-life context or political stakes made it hard for me to fully appreciate the world and the conflict. Civil wars aren’t apolitical, a-temporal, or contextless, so this choice struck me as odd.
Our world is so grim that yes it was nice to have this movie not pile on about how screwed we are or aren't. Ironically, despite being Trump-free, the movie was so grim, violent, and nihilistic that I still left feeling hollow and bitter. Perhaps that was Garland’s real goal.
Your take on the quaint shop scene helped me see its purpose for the first time—thanks for that! It really does highlight how mundane life carries on in conflict zones. For another perspective on this, Derry Girls does something similar (albeit very differently) and is well worth a watch—I’ve written about it on this blog before.
I also loved your point about the “they’re shooting at me” quote—so succinctly capturing the futility of war. And you’re absolutely right about the geography goof; I suspect that’s a wrinkle of Garland writing a US-set story from a UK perspective.
Thanks again for reading and for generously sharing your thoughts! Let’s definitely catch up over a beer to chat movies sometime.
Cheers,
Reilly