With the United States seemingly more divided — at least politically — than ever before, may believe the country is on the brink of another civil war. Such an event is highly improbable, but a new movie from independent entertainment company A24 imagines what such a future would look like in the upcoming film Civil War.
Following a recent poster that highlighted the dystopian fall of America with soldiers positioned atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty, we now have our first official trailer for Civil War, which paints an even darker vision of America's fracturing. Written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation), Civil War is an "adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a near-future fractured America balanced on the razors edge."
The film follows a journalist played by Kirsten Dunst and a group of colleagues as they journey across a fractured America in an attempt to reach Washington DC. It's unclear exactly what caused the fracturing of America based on this trailer alone, but we do know that there's a three-term President, 19 states have seceded, and the United States Army is warring against the Western Forces of Texas and California (a somewhat odd pairing considering how vastly different both states' ideologies are) and the Florida Alliance.
In any case, looking to end the uprising quickly, the White House orders air strikes on its own citizens. Presumably, Dunst and company are headed to D.C. — where reporters are shot on sight — in an attempt to get some answers and uncover the truth of what's happening.
Dunst stars alongside Stephen McKinley Henderson, Wagner Moura, and Cailee Spaen. Nick Offerman plays the President of the United States and it looks like we'll also get a guest appearance from Jesse Plemons, who appears to be playing a U.S. soldier.
Garland is probably best known for writing and directing the sci-fi thriller Ex Machina, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He also adapted the novel Annihilation into a movie, which was also a critical success. He most recently wrote and directed the horror film Men.
It's an incredibly grim future of America, but one that looks like an intriguing movie. Civil War is set to arrive in theaters on April 26, 2024. The timing of the movie's release is certainly interesting as 2024 is an election year for the United States and one that will surely drum up some heated debate.