Alex Garland’s Civil War is merely days away from its grand release. The dystopian thriller will come to theatres worldwide on April 12. The film chronicles the story of an American society fallen into disrepair. Several states of the country have united to form an army against the President who has seized a third term of presidency.
The A24 movie has been much talked about since its first trailer was released in December 2023. Many discussed how the film showed California and Texas working together while in reality, the two states fall on the opposite end of the political spectrum. There has also been some intense speculation about the real message behind the film. However, director Garland recently revealed his true agenda behind making a film such as Civil War.
Alex Garland’s Agenda Behind Making Civil War Isn’t What You Think
Alex Garland started his career as a writer. His first novel The Beach was famously adapted into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. After finding success as a novelist and a screenwriter, Garland made his directorial debut with 2014’s Ex-Machina starring Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac. Since then he has directed more hit films like Natalie Portman starrer Annihilation and the 2022 horror film Men.
Garland has worked with Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst for his latest dystopian thriller Civil War. Dunst plays photojournalist Lee, who is taking her group of war correspondents to the front lines of the ongoing war. After talking about keeping the conflict portrayed in the film to a surface level, the Annihilation director is now revealing one of his agendas behind making the thriller.
In his recent interview with The Guardian‘s Ellen E Jones, the Oscar-nominee shared that he wanted to portray journalists as “heroes” in this film. He also conveyed how the film is trying to be protective towards journalists who play a key role in society.
The director’s exact words were,
“There is something in the film which is trying to be protective of [journalists].”
Garland further explained,
“I think serious journalism needs protecting because it’s under attack, so I wanted to make those people ‘heroes’ to put them front and centre.”
The director’s admiration for journalists also comes from the fact, that his father served as a newspaper cartoonist for a long time. Hence, Garland grew up around foreign correspondents and eventually developed a deep respect for the profession.
Garland recently also revealed that the seemingly bizarre pairing of California and Texas in the film was intentional.
Director Began Working On Civil War in 2018 But Set It Aside
In his latest interview, the Academy Award nominee also revealed that he began working on Civil War back in 2018. His inspiration for creating a film like this came from the world around him which was mired with different kinds of conflicts at the time.
From issues around climate change, and Brexit to pro and anti-Trump debate, the world around him had the director “feeling surprised that there wasn’t more civil disobedience.” However, the 53-year-old set the script aside for a few years until 2020.
He recalls how the world in 2020 seemed more fractured than ever. He said,
“I came out of it into a world that was in a state of real agitation. All sorts of fractures were becoming more fractured and paranoid concerns becoming more paranoid.”
As inspiration struck, Garland wrote two screenplays, Civil War and Men back-to-back.
Civil War releases on April 12 in theatres near you.
