‘Civil War’s story draws parallels to several real-life dictators, but two in particular.
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Civil War.
The Big Picture
- A24’s
Civil War
draws parallels to several real-life dictators, most notably Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. - Like Nick Offerman’s President in
Civil War
, Nicolae Ceaușescu was executed after weaponizing a group of secret police and aggressively implementing his policies using nationalistic rhetoric and censorship. - The assassination of the president in
Civil War
also shares similarities to the real-life execution of Saddam Hussein.
A24 has certainly helped advance the commercial prospects for its more artistic projects, with Alex Garland’s Civil War becoming one of the most financially successful projects in the studio’s short history. It’s not entirely surprising that the brilliant filmmaker behind Ex Machina and Annihilation was able to attract attention for another one of his high-concept genre movies; however, it is surprising that a film as bleak and disturbing as Civil War could be considered a “blockbuster” in any capacity. Beyond the visceral sequences of violence that Garland incorporates, Civil War makes grim assumptions about how the United States could evolve into a divided nation split into volatile factions keen on destroying each other. Seeing familiar American iconography like the Statue of Liberty and The White House allows Garland to ground the film in America’s history, but Civil War’s story draws parallels to several real-life dictators.
Civil War
The film follows events in the U.S. during a civil war. Government forces attack civilians. Journalists are shot in the Capitol.
- Release Date
- April 12, 2024
- Director
- Alex Garland
- Cast
- Nick Offerman , Kirsten Dunst , Cailee Spaeny , Wagner Moura , Sonoya Mizuno , Jefferson White
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- Alex Garland
‘Civil War’ Makes Allusions to the Reign of Nicolae Ceaușescu
Set in a vaguely dystopian version of reality, Civil War imagines a scenario in which the United States federal government has essentially become a dictatorship. The President of the United States (Nick Offerman) has weaponized military forces to forcefully siege territories that attempt to form secessionist movements; a group of southern states have rallied to form the “Florida Alliance,” and Texas and California have joined forces to form the “Western Forces.” As the rebel armies attempt to siege The White House and take down the President, the journalists Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), Joel (Wagner Moura), Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and their young new recruit Jesse (Cailee Spaeny) attempt to track the resolution in progress.
While the title of “Civil War” is certainly meant to evoke memories of the American Civil War in the 19th century, the film more closely parallels the rise and fall of the former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu was an aggressive head of state who created civil disunity through an increased military presence and censorship of the press. Ceaușescu promoted his policies using broadly nationalistic rhetoric, forming a cult of personality surrounding his leadership. While details about the political motivations of Offerman’s character are kept intentionally gray in Civil War, an opening sequence where he addresses his nation with news about a series of successful bombings certainly suggests a similar attempt to invoke nationalism among his loyal constituents. Ceaușescu also weaponized a group of secret police, known as the Securitate, to serve as his personal instruments in surveying the nation; Offerman’s character similarly uses his Secret Service agent to perform high level tasks once the capital is under attack by the rebels.
‘Civil War’s AI-Generated Ads Spark Controversy
The Instagram ads do not feature scenes from the Alex Garland movie.
Similar to Nick Offerman’s President in Civil War, Ceaușescu was forcibly removed from office and executed by rebels when anti-government protestors attacked his capital. While Offerman’s President in Civil War is executed in the White House after Joel refuses to spare his life, the real Ceaușescu and his wife Elena fled to their Snagov residence before fleeing again to Târgoviște. Ceaușescu did manage to have an official trial under Romania’s Provisional Government, where he was held guilty and executed by a group of soldiers. While Garland’s projects tend to have bleak endings, ending Civil War with a point-blank execution may be one of the most radical decisions he’s ever made.
‘Civil War’ Parallels the Execution of Saddam Hussein
While the nature of Ceaușescu’s reign and the Romanian Civil War is the most notable real-world parallel to the film, Civil War also evokes comparisons to the presidency of Saddam Hussein and the Iraq War. Offerman’s President stoked his nation’s tensions in a manner similar to Hussein; Hussein also amassed power after a period of civil disunity, incentivized violence through the development of advanced weaponry, practiced a policy of isolationism, and refused to call for a ceasefire after a period of political revolution. Rebels against Hussein’s regime led military campaigns against his regime beginning in 1991, incentivized by the suggestion that he was vulnerable and that a new leader would be inserted. While Civil War does not characterize the political motivations of the Western Forces, it does suggest that they intend to remove the President from office so that a new leader can be inserted in his place.
Civil War does not contain any references to nations outside of the United States, as Garland chooses to avoid giving any border contextual information. While the Iraqi dictator was ultimately deposed by an international coalition of nations including the United States, Hussein’s reign led to the fragmentation of the Middle East region into different factions, similar to Civil War. Like Ceaușescu and Offerman’s character, Hussein was found guilty and executed for war crimes. While Hussein’s execution was celebrated in a manner similar to that of the President in Civil War, Garland does not suggest how the nation will fare with new leadership in the White House.
Alex Garland Explores Journalistic Objectivity in ‘Civil War’
One of the most disturbing aspects of Civil War is that the film aims to take an objective, journalistic take on what an urban conflict may look like. While it would have been easy for Garland to insert some expository passages that trace the origins of the war and identify the issues that inspired the secessionist movements, he chooses to make the journalists the avatar characters and restrict the audience’s knowledge to the given facts. Even during the final siege on The White House, Joel practices a non-interventionist policy that prevents him from inserting himself in the story by saving the President.
While the film has been praised for its visceral action sequences and strong performances, Civil War forces its audience to put themselves in the place of the characters. It’s certainly a warning about divisiveness taken to the extreme, and Garland succeeds in showing how fragile infrastructure can be when violent outbreaks occur. Civil War’s box office success suggests that these issues are present within many audience members’ minds, and will certainly inspire more discourse in the weeks to come.
Civil War is currently playing in theaters in the U.S.
This article was originally published on collider.com