You would be forgiven for thinking that “Civil War” was a movie about the bloodiest U.S. conflict dating back to the late 19th century. Instead, it's a prescient look at a fictional, fractured, near-future America.
Directed by Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) and produced by independent entertainment company A24, the film opens with an unnamed president (Nick Offerman) practicing a self-assured speech about the strength and unity of the United States juxtaposed against scenes of chaos, violence and destruction erupting across the country.
Meanwhile, veteran Reuters journalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) sits in a New York City hotel room as an explosion erupts outside her window. Her team, which consists of alcoholic thrill-seeker Joel (Wagner Moura), her elderly mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and a stowaway newcomer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), plans to make the treacherous drive from Manhattan to Washington, D.C., to try to confront the president, who has held three terms in office but nary a press conference.
Told from the perspective of Lee and her Reuters colleagues, it's obvious early on in “Civil War” that the conflict has been lengthy and is nearing an end. As Joel remarks of their mission to find the president, “interviewing him is the only story left.” But with opposition troops closing in on the Capitol, their trip is billed as a suicide mission.
Before striking out on the road, Lee, who has covered…
