--- title: "Civil War: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/civil-war/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/civil-war" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 18 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Civil War (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 18 reviews: 10 positive, 4 mixed, 4 negative. The reviews split on one question and agree on almost everything else. Most critics praise Garland’s craft: the combat sequences, the sound design and the road-trip structure are described as immersive and often frightening, and Kirsten Dunst’s performance as a veteran war photographer is singled out repeatedly as the film’s anchor. Stephen McKinley Henderson and Cailee Spaeny draw notice too. The reservations cluster around politics. A large group finds the film’s refusal to explain the war’s causes or take a side either evasive or timid; Time Out calls it gripping but frustrating for that reason, and Film Comment argues it shrinks from race, class and ideology in favour of spectacle. The harshest notices, from Paste and The Ringer, treat the neutrality as cowardice and the vision of collapse as derivative. Defenders at Vulture and /Film read the same neutrality as the point, a film about desensitisation rather than a warning. The spread is wide. ## RogerEbert.com — Matt Zoller Seitz Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). The film is a great, furiously convincing thought experiment about journalistic ethics and the mentality of war correspondents in a collapsing United States. It stands out for its original portrait of reporters driven by the dopamine hit of getting the scoop amid chaos. [Read the review](https://rogerebert.com/reviews/civil-war-movie-review-2024) ## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong Rating 3/4/3. 11 April 2024. The critic finds the film impressively mounted but lacking political bite, calling it bracing yet frustratingly timid. It singles out the strong performances, especially Stephen McKinley Henderson, and the earsplitting action scenes for praise while faulting the apolitical approach. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/civil-war) ## Los Angeles Times — Joshua Rothkopf Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2024. The critic calls the film a terrifying vision of a broken America that provokes a shudder of recognition and unease rather than exhilaration. He singles out the thrillingly dark road trip and moments of explosive tension as making the film valuable. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-11/civil-war-review-kirsten-dunst-cailee-spaeny-alex-garland-action) ## Radio Times — Patrick Cremona Rating 4/5. This tense action drama focuses on journalists traversing a war-torn USA to interview the President; it is a complex film that serves as a paean to war reporters but also a cautionary tale about the ethics of pursuing a scoop. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-fqy4pk/civil-war/) ## The New Yorker — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2024. Garland delivers a vividly detailed panorama of destruction with striking end-times aesthetics and a sincere tribute to journalists, but the parable remains at arm’s length due to fuzzy execution and a nonpartisan fog. It singles out the addictive allure of war coverage for praise while complaining of muddled politics. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/22/civil-war-movie-review) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2024. Garland crafts a slick, technically impressive but glib blockbuster about journalists documenting societal collapse, anchored by a strong performance from Kirsten Dunst that lends it some soul amid the provocation. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/8b0b5ef5-2330-4704-a0ba-ea991eb01584) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 3/5. 11 April 2024. The review finds the film gripping but frustrating due to its lack of context on the war's causes, praising its visceral portrait of a nation tearing itself apart while noting it is vague on political insights. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/civil-war-2024) ## Total Film — Neil Smith Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). Civil War is a grim, gritty and gruelling thriller depicting a vividly authentic future America in brutal conflict. Garland's technical prowess is undeniable, but after two hours of hostilities the world is one viewers are ready to leave. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/civil-war-2024-review/) ## Film Comment — Leo Goldsmith Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 29 April 2024. The critic argues the film has little to say about a second American civil war and shrinks from political specifics like race, class or ideology, favoring vague spectacle and a narrow focus on journalists. It singles out the reliance on clichéd, shopworn imagery and lack of depth in portraying the press or politics as a cynical bid for broad appeal. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/civil-war-alex-garland/) ## The i Paper Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2024. Garland's film is visually striking but refuses to explore political backstory or real dangers facing the US, making it feel borderline irresponsible. It offers little beyond the idea that war is destructive and that journalism can worsen division. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/civil-war-review-alex-garland-irresponsible-3000618) ## Empire — John Nugent 26 March 2024. Garland vividly imagines a near-future US torn apart by civil war, focusing on journalists documenting the chaos rather than the politics or soldiers. The film is praised as gorgeously made, urgent and extraordinary cinema despite its provocative and sometimes exasperating political stance. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/civil-war/) ## Evening Standard — Nick Howells 11 April 2024. Civil War is Garland's best film by far, a no-holds-barred war epic that comes close to greatness even if it is not really about civil war. It excels through its intense road-trip narrative, memorable vignettes and strong performances, particularly from Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/civil-war-review-alex-garland-kirsten-dunst-b1150354.html) ## Screen Daily 15 March 2024. Festival review. The critic describes the film as an overwhelming and traumatic odyssey led by a transcendent performance from Kirsten Dunst, praising its sensorial portrait of the psychological toll on journalists and its jaw-dropping battles. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/civil-war-sxsw-review/5191613.article) ## Sight and Sound 9 April 2024. The critic praises the film's thrilling examination of violence and how it throws the audience off balance, highlighting its focus on war photographers and the unsettling power of its portrayal of violence. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/civil-war-alex-garlands-spectacle-violence-determined-throw-audience-balance) ## The Guardian — Wendy Ide 14 April 2024. Garland’s film focuses on war correspondents navigating a near-future US civil war, stripping away political specifics to examine the self-perpetuating nature of conflict. It excels in visceral combat sequences and sound design but falls short of more idea-driven war films. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/apr/14/civil-war-review-alex-garland-kirsten-dunst-wagner-moura-cailee-spaeny-stephen-mckinley-henderson-jesse-plemons-nick-offerman) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Lovia Gyarkye 14 March 2024. Festival review. The film is a subversive and unsettling exercise that stimulates the intellect more than the emotions. Garland excels at visually recasting American iconography to question self-mythologizing but the central journalists feel emotionally distant. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/civil-war-review-kirsten-dunst-alex-garland-1235852455/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic’s Pick. 11 April 2024. The critic describes the film as a blunt, gut-twisting work of speculative fiction that is mesmerizingly gripping yet harrowing. She singles out Kirsten Dunst’s performance for expressing a nation’s soul-sickness vividly. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/movies/civil-war-review-we-have-met-the-enemy-and-it-is-us-again.html) ## The Telegraph 11 April 2024. Garland delivers an immersive, thrilling vision of a divided America through the eyes of photojournalists, balancing compassion for characters with high-stakes action and a probing intellect. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2024/03/26/civil-war-review-alex-garland-kirsten-dunst/) ## The Times Rating ★★★★☆. 9 April 2024. Garland creates an intense, ambitious war film that relishes gory details and delivers an assaulting, uncompromising climax, marking his best work yet despite its provocative premise. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/civil-war-review-alex-garland-exceptional-war-movie-8z6dfzlmn) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri 12 April 2024. Garland’s film is diabolically clever in the way it both revels in and abhors our fascination with America as a battlefield, ultimately becoming a movie about desensitization to images of war. It is more a call for reflection on why we don’t feel anything than a conventional warning. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-civil-war-starring-kirsten-dunst-and-cailee-spaeny.html) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 5/5. 15 March 2024. Festival review. The critic calls the film a magnificent and towering piece of cinema that acts as a cold, bitter cautionary tale about plausible American societal breakdown and civil war. It singles out the shrewd focus on war journalists as a character study, captured through a clinical, unblinking lens that feels both eerie and clarifying. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/civil-war-review-unforgettable-if-you-have-guts/) ## Collider — Matthew Donato Rating 9/10. 15 March 2024. Festival review. Garland delivers his best film yet, a brutal yet beautiful look at combat journalism in a divided America through the eyes of reporters navigating chaos. The film offers visually stunning, chaotic dystopian narrative with outstanding performances. [Read the review](https://collider.com/civil-war-movie-review/) ## /Film — Jacob Hall Rating 8.5/10. 15 March 2024. Festival review. The critic praises the film's deliberate neutrality and immersive road-trip structure amid a second American civil war, highlighting its harrowing sense of disorientation and strong lead performance from Kirsten Dunst. It singles out the blend of horror and beauty in the visuals and sound design as particularly effective. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1540289/civil-war-review-alex-garland-terrifying-war-movie-leave-you-shaken-sxsw-2024/) ## NME — Ralph Jones Rating 4/5. 11 April 2024. The critic hails it as a staggering achievement of spectacle and sound with impeccable acting, believable dialogue, and no boredom, while celebrating journalists. It singles out the haunting Jesse Plemons standoff and beautiful moments like sparks in a burning forest, with minor quibbles about over-glamourising the profession and political neutrality. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/civil-war-review-alex-garland-kirsten-dunst-3616468) ## Polygon — Tasha Robinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2024. Garland prioritizes a timeless human story about war journalism and character dynamics over partisan politics, resulting in a gripping, immersive meditation on the profession. It is a thoroughly engaging war drama with tremendous human drama built into intense action sequences. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/24099490/civil-war-review-2024-alex-garland/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2024. Garland finds an ideal middle ground focusing on the day-to-day how of societal breakdown rather than the why, through journalists recording events in a nonspecific dystopia. The film is sure to be divisive but proves a disquieting, terrifying watch if one surrenders to its abstractions. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2024/04/civil-war-review/) ## Paste — Kenneth Lowe Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 April 2024. The film is a monument to both-sides nonsense, with a premise that is fucking stupid and relies on absurd, false equivalences in its portrayal of journalism and conflict. While technically competent with interesting ideas about photographers, it fails due to its political cowardice and ridiculous details. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/alex-garland/civil-war-alex-garland-objectivity-both-sides-journalism) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2024. The movie is bereft of major commentary, choosing to drop viewers into a war zone while exposing the director's limitations as a dramatist and provocateur. Its derivative vision of collapse feels hollow and pedantic, more divisive than insightful. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2024/04/11/movies/civil-war-movie-review-alex-garland-kirsten-dunst) ## Deadline — Valerie Complex 15 March 2024. Festival review. The film is a muddled reflection that renders its cautionary tale less impactful than intended, with thin characterization and an overreliance on spectacle over substance leaving the critic disengaged. It singles out the loud volume and action sequences as overshadowing critical dialogue and narrative depth. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/03/civil-war-review-alex-garlands-journey-through-desolation-loses-its-way-sxsw-1235859621/) ## The Wrap — Chase Hutchinson 15 March 2024. Kirsten Dunst delivers an outstanding performance as the veteran war photographer at the center of this fraught and fascinating epic, which proves unexpectedly interesting despite not being Garland’s best film. The critic singles out Dunst’s emotional resonance and the film’s exploration of journalistic ethics as its greatest strengths. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/kirsten-dunst-civil-war-review-alex-garland/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/civil-war.md