Civil War (2024)

1. Jessie’s camera is a stroke of genius not only because it is a conceptual meta commentary through which audiences can contemplate the nature of art production during wartime, but also because it works cinematically as a technique for sustaining emotional climaxes distilled into potent individual frames. 2. An alliance between California and Texas defies belief, but politics—even racial politics—miss the point in a scenario where you can be summarily executed on the basis of where you were born. 3. One important message, which complicates U.S. propaganda and might encourage some much needed self-reflection, is that Americans are in fact capable of committing terrorist acts. 4. Violence on the big screen always makes me think of François Truffaut’s famous quote: “There’s no such thing as an anti-war film.” VERDICT: It is like a cheeseburger.