{ "id": "ep5xx7md6z", "slug": "civil-war-2024-film", "title": "Civil War (2024 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure", "label": "War action and adventure", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-since-2000", "label": "War action films released since 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-since-2000" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-since-2000.yr-2017-2026", "label": "Released 2017 to 2026", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-since-2000.yr-2017-2026" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Civil War (2024) is Alex Garland's A24 dystopian thriller in which journalists travel to Washington, D.C. during a fictional second American civil war; it earned $127.3 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.", "snippet": "Civil War (2024) is Alex Garland's A24 dystopian thriller in which journalists travel to Washington, D.C. during a fictional second American civil war; it earned $127.3 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-since-2000.yr-2017-2026", "markdown": "# Civil War (2024 film)\n\n**Civil War** is a 2024 dystopian action thriller written and directed by [Alex Garland](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-garland) and released by A24, in which a team of journalists travels across a near-future United States torn apart by an armed rebellion against a three-term president. The film stars [Kirsten Dunst](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirsten-dunst), Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and [Stephen McKinley Henderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-mckinley-henderson), with Nick Offerman as the president.[1](https://a24films.com/films/civil-war) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Theatrical release April 12, 2024 (A24); world premiere at SXSW on March 14, 2024; runtime 1 hour 49 minutes; rated R[1](https://a24films.com/films/civil-war) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61) |\n| Premise | California and Texas unite as the \"Western Forces\" against a president (Nick Offerman) who has disbanded the FBI and given himself a third term; journalists drive from New York to Washington, D.C. to interview him[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) |\n| Budget | $50 million, the largest budgeted film A24 had made[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) |\n| Box office | $25.7 million opening weekend, A24's biggest debut and the year's biggest R-rated opening to that date; $68.8 million domestic and $127.3 million worldwide[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Civil-War-%282024%29) |\n| Reception | 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore at release[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) |\n| Awards | 10 wins and 62 nominations, including British Independent Film Awards for Best Effects and Best Sound[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17279496/awards/) |\n| Streaming | Began streaming on Max on September 13, 2024[6](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-0/a24s-civil-war-and-i-saw-tv-glow-begin-streaming-exclusively-max-september) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and story\n\nThe film imagines a United States in all-out internal warfare. California and Texas, states usually opposed in American politics, have joined to form the \"Western Forces,\" and together with the \"Florida Alliance\" they seek to topple a government led by a three-term president played by [Nick Offerman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-offerman).[3](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) The story follows a group of military-embedded journalists racing to reach Washington, D.C. before rebel factions descend on the White House, hoping to secure a final interview with a president who has not given one in more than a year.[6](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-0/a24s-civil-war-and-i-saw-tv-glow-begin-streaming-exclusively-max-september) • [7](https://time.com/6960838/civil-war-interview-alex-garland-cast/)\n\nKirsten Dunst plays Lee, a veteran war photographer; [Wagner Moura](https://www.edgepedia.org/wagner-moura) plays journalist Joel; [Cailee Spaeny](https://www.edgepedia.org/cailee-spaeny) plays Jessie, an aspiring photojournalist who joins the group; and Stephen McKinley Henderson plays Sammy.[1](https://a24films.com/films/civil-war) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/civil_war_2024) The journey is structured as a road movie through a contested landscape, from a New York City where residents scrounge and riot for water, through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, to the Western Front's frontline in Charlottesville and finally Washington, D.C.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/15/civil-war-review) One of the film's most discussed scenes features [Jesse Plemons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jesse-plemons) as a gun-wielding militant who asks the journalists, \"What kind of American are you?\"[3](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61)\n\n## Deliberate political ambiguity\n\nGarland, the British writer-director of *Ex Machina* and *Annihilation*, wrote the film in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when societal breakdown was widely discussed, and sent it to A24, which agreed to make it.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61) Months after he finished the script he watched the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot on live television, and said that some of his anger later fed into the project's motivation, though not into rewritten scenes or dialogue.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n\nThe film sidesteps the politics that many viewers expected. Pairing California and Texas on the same side was one of several gestures Garland made to avoid channeling current American partisan fissures.[10](https://apnews.com/article/e17c0cad5f14b65f8933ce39b0335dda) At the SXSW premiere he said, \"The film is intended to be a conversation, so it doesn't assert too much,\" and in interviews he described the film as \"just reporting,\" presenting journalists who may be conflicted or compromised as individuals but who hold on to an idea of journalism.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/15/civil-war-sxsw-premiere-alex-garland) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n\nThis choice divided critics. The Guardian's review argued the film is best viewed not as commentary on America today but as a film about conflict itself, focusing on the self-perpetuating nature of war.[12](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) Other reviewers, including the Los Angeles Times and the World Socialist Web Site, criticized the stripping away of political context as a failure for a story released in the middle of the 2024 election campaign.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-15/civil-war-a24-alex-garland-politics-journalism) • [14](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/18/dxyk-a18.pdf) The debate began with the first trailer, which was picked apart online as if it were the film itself, and continued through opinion pieces in The New York Times, CNN, and Politico.[15](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/civil-war-movie-review-2024) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n\n## Production and release\n\nThe film was shot largely in Georgia.[3](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61) With a $50 million production budget it was A24's most expensive film to date, and the studio gave it a wide release on 3,838 screens in the United States and Canada, including IMAX, as part of a push beyond the arthouse market.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) IMAX showings on 400 large-format screens accounted for $4.2 million, or 16.5 percent, of the opening domestic total.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n\n## Box office and reception\n\nThe opening weekend exceeded projections of $15 to $24 million, earning $25.7 million in North America and unseating *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire* from the top of the box office.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) It was A24's first film to debut in first place and set a new in-house record for opening weekend, surpassing the studio's previous best, *Hereditary*'s $13.6 million debut in 2018.[16](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/box-office/civil-war-set-weekend-box-office-record-a24) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) It remained number one in its second weekend with $11.1 million.[17](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2024/apr/Arabtimes23apr2024.pdf) By early May 2024 it had crossed $100 million worldwide, a notable result for a mid-budget original film, and it finished with $68.8 million domestically and $127.3 million worldwide, about 2.5 times its production budget.[18](https://www.screendaily.com/news/a24s-civil-war-crosses-100m-at-global-box-office-exclusive/5193126.article) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Civil-War-%282024%29)\n\nReviews were largely positive at release, with an 83 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 77 percent audience score, though the B- CinemaScore suggested lukewarm word of mouth.[2](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d) Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus called it \"a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis.\"[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/civil_war_2024) At the British Independent Film Awards it won Best Effects (David Simpson) and Best Sound (Glenn Freemantle, Howard Bargroff, and Mary H. Ellis), and it received a Hochi Film Award for Best Foreign Film.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17279496/awards/)\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film's military adviser, former U.S. Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, helped Garland design its action sequences; that collaboration led directly to Garland's 2025 follow-up *Warfare*, which took the opposite approach by depicting a real, unembellished skirmish.[19](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/warfare-movie-2025-review/682422/) [Sight and Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/sight-and-sound) later noted that the film's premise of a country riven by violent division under a populist third-term president felt more pertinent after the November 2024 election, while observing that its tonal shifts alienated some viewers.[20](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/2024-year-war-cinema)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Civil War, A24 official film page](https://a24films.com/films/civil-war)\n2. ['Civil War' declares victory at the box office, toppling 'Godzilla x Kong'](https://apnews.com/article/0933dabd6d399e3c10c2cd49378a102d)\n3. ['Civil War,' an election-year provocation, premieres at SXSW film festival, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/596e127d073c9f85dd23fb28e1a8ea61)\n4. [Civil War (2024), Box office and financial information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Civil-War-%282024%29)\n5. [Civil War (2024), Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17279496/awards/)\n6. [A24's CIVIL WAR And I SAW THE TV GLOW Begin Streaming Exclusively On Max This September, Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom](https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-0/a24s-civil-war-and-i-saw-tv-glow-begin-streaming-exclusively-max-september)\n7. [How Alex Garland and His Cast Created the Sobering Dystopia of Civil War, TIME](https://time.com/6960838/civil-war-interview-alex-garland-cast/)\n8. [Civil War (2024), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/civil_war_2024)\n9. [Civil War review – Alex Garland's immersive yet dispassionate war film, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/15/civil-war-review)\n10. [Critic's Notebook: 'Civil War' and the elusiveness of the of-the-moment movie, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/e17c0cad5f14b65f8933ce39b0335dda)\n11. ['We know why it might happen': Alex Garland's explosive thriller Civil War premieres, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/15/civil-war-sxsw-premiere-alex-garland)\n12. [Civil War review – Alex Garland's chilling dystopian thriller of journalists in a conflict-riven US, The Guardian](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)\n13. [In cutting out politics, A24 movie 'Civil War' fails viewers, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-15/civil-war-a24-alex-garland-politics-journalism)\n14. [Civil War without politics or social context, World Socialist Web Site](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/18/dxyk-a18.pdf)\n15. [Civil War movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/civil-war-movie-review-2024)\n16. [Civil War Has Set A New Weekend Box Office Record For A24, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/box-office/civil-war-set-weekend-box-office-record-a24)\n17. [Arab Times, April 23, 2024 (second-weekend box office report)](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2024/apr/Arabtimes23apr2024.pdf)\n18. [A24's 'Civil War' crosses $100m at global box office, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/news/a24s-civil-war-crosses-100m-at-global-box-office-exclusive/5193126.article)\n19. [A Film That Throws Out the War-Movie Playbook, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/warfare-movie-2025-review/682422/)\n20. [2024: the year in war cinema, Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/2024-year-war-cinema)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released since 2000 › Released 2017 to 2026*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Civil War (2024 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Civil War (2024 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Civil War (2024 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/civil-war-2024-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Civil War is Alex Garland's A24 dystopian thriller in which journalists travel to Washington, D.C. during a fictional second American civil war; it earned $127.3 million worldwide on a $50 million budget." }