Alex Garland's Civil War, not to be confused with the MCU's Captain America film of the same name, has premiered at SXSW. That means the first critics reactions are in, and it's looking good for the A24 film.
What's Civil War about?
The new Garland film follows a set of journalists covering the Second American Civil War. This war is between the American government and the “Western Forces” that are led by Texas and California.
Kirsten Dunst leads the ensemble. Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, and Nick Offerman also star in the film.
This is the fourth feature film from Alex Garland. His previous three films, Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Men were all A24 releases. He previously wrote the scripts for 28 Days Later and Sunshine.
First reactions
Out of its SXSW, Garland's latest has received wide praise. It isn't without its detractors, though, or parodies.
Falling under the latter category, one X user jokingly reacted to the MCU film of the same name. “Holy s**t, it's absolutely incredible. Edge of your seat and you'll never believe what you're witnessing on screen,” they began. “It blew my mind. Tom Holland's debut as Spider-Man was mind blowing. I was on Team Iron Man all the way.”
Another user, Rob Saucedo, gave a serious reaction to the film. He was blown away, although it sounds like the film had him on the edge of his seat the whole way through. “My butt is soooo clenched, I may never poop again,” the post began. “Technically stunning, emotionally powerful, it's very existence an audacious triumph – this movie rules harder than a tape measure. I can't wait to watch America react to this film.”
Perri Nemiroff of Collider also weighed in, calling Civil War “phenomenal.” Her reaction praised the below-the-line work from the cinematography to the sound design. She also praised the ensemble.
However, not everyone was impressed out of the SXSW premiere. Jeff Zhang panned the film. “Never seen a movie so loud with so little to say,” the post began. “Just so sad that Alex Garland never directed anything else after Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Devs.”
A couple of final positive reactions include that of @Cinema_Joe23 on X. The post claims the film “rips” and that they can't wait to revisit it in IMAX despite their ears still ringing and heart racing. The final reaction comes from Anthony of The Movie Podcast, who called Civil War a “BRUTAL PORTRAIT of the American Dream” and the film a “must-watch.”
Civil War will be released on April 12.
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