Civil War
critic Reviews
, 81% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score- Tough and unsettling by design, Civil War is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis.
- , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreMark KermodeKermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)
It's very powerful.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreRichard BrodyNew Yorker
Clamorously making its claim on viewers’ attention by subject matter alone, rather than by artistry or world view, the film is a kind of advertisement for itself.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreRex ReedObserver
Look at it as a movie for posterity, and it becomes a worthwhile movie to savor, but nothing else—and you’ll survive. Admire Civil War as an amazing film of imagination and cinematic verve but nothing else—and you will, too.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreTom ShoneTimes (UK)
The script’s dispassion is what gives the film its oxyacetylene-like power as prophecy.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreOsita NwanevuThe New Republic
Alex Garland’s film is a fascinatingly empty meditation on journalism and our political divides.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreKimber MyersCrooked Marquee
This may mark an intellectually leaner effort from the filmmaker, but there’s still meat on the bone for the viewer to chew on. That is, if they can stomach anything after watching its brutal violence on American soil.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreGriffin SchillerFilmSpeak (Youtube)
Rather than the toothless mess of banal political equivocation that people suggested it would be based on little more than a trailer and some promotional material, Civil War is as incisive and biting as any political thriller released this century.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreNarendra BanadHindustan Times
Alex Garland’s latest directorial effort depicts a United States torn apart from within. It’s a visceral and harrowing journey.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreMichelle KisnerThe Movie Sleuth
This is not a film that pulls punches. But ultimately it’s not a film about war, it’s a film about who records the war.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreJames MottramSouth China Morning Post
Civil War is a better film about photojournalism than it is about the implosion of American society, with Garland subtly suggesting that just about nobody knows who or what they should be firing at. Whatever the case, it is never less than gripping.
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