10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

According to a recent poll, approximately one in five Americans believe that violence may be necessary to "get the nation back on track". By that metric, 4 in five do not believe that—but still, one in five do, which is a scary thought in this current political climate. Divisions feel more significant than ever, with leaders and pundits stoking those feelings and mining them for dollars; it is terrifying to think that as many as 68 million people might actually believe that a war is the way to go.

Alex Garland's Civil War is a movie made for these people, for the one in five. It's a stern warning to anyone who has fantasised about taking up arms against their fellow Americans, no matter which side they are on. Civil War is a film that will show you precisely what that might look like and how horrifying it actually is.

The film follows a quartet of journalistic archetypes as they journey from New York to Washington, D.C., with the goal of interviewing the President of the United States.

Kirsten Dunst plays Lee, a famous but jaded veteran war photographer. Wagner Moura is Joel, the hotshot adrenaline junkie reporter seeking to interview the President. Stephen McKinley Henderson is Sammy, the aged, experienced reporter there to dole out advice based on decades of experience. Last but certainly not least, Cailee Spaeny is Jessie, the eager, upstart photographer desperate to jump into the fray like her hero, Lee, once did.

Each of them brings perspective to the battlefields they are covering in their own unique ways, but it's Jessie who we live through and whose journey from wide-eyed child to battle-tested pro is the most compelling story of the four. Spaeny was already one to watch, but the depth in her performance here -whether in smaller moments like a conversation with her hero or bigger ones where she's recoiling in horror from a war crime- may elevate her to stardom.

Moura is an actor who is finally getting his moment, and this performance proves that he understands the assignment. His character moves from adrenaline junkie to righteous anger convincingly and authentically, and the way he delivers his best lines (including the last line in the movie) pays off how the audience is feeling as the film draws to a close.

Henderson -one of the most underrated performers of our time- has little to do but offer sage advice, but if a film must have a character to do that, it may as well have one of the greats.

Which brings us to Kirsten Dunst. It's not an understatement to say that this is a career-best performance. Every scene she is in is compelling, whether she's lamenting that the warnings she sent home after decades covering war zones were not heeded, trying to impress upon her new protégé both the danger and importance of their role in the conflict or even silently mopping up the blood of one her friends. She is truly on fire for this whole movie, in the best way, and despite it being early in the year, it's not difficult to imagine some attention from awards bodies come the awards season.

Along the way, they encounter several different people and situations, each of which illuminates the horrors of what a civil war would be, whether that's the casual committing of war crimes, men fighting against other men they once called friends, or the one community that is pretending the war isn't happening at all. It's harrowing to watch each of them unfold, but the scariest might be the single scene that Jesse Plemons shows up for, playing an unnamed soldier that our characters encounter in the middle of digging a mass grave. Plemons has turned into one of the great character actors of our time, and with this single scene, he nearly steals the entire movie from its stars as he terrorises them by asking what kind of Americans they are.

And yet, throughout the film, one clear choice is made: it doesn't take sides. Early in the story, Dunst's Lee tells Spaeny's Jessie that they don't decide; they document so that others can decide, and that's the entire film's approach.

It's never confirmed who started the war or why, or indeed, in many cases, when they encounter people, it's not always clear which side they're on. This is because it doesn't matter: they're fighting, and the film presents the logical extreme of that fight, and that's all that matters. It's tempting to think that the film has nothing to say, but it does have something to say, and it is to that previously mentioned one in five Americans: this horror is what you are asking for. This level of death and destruction, this murder and mayhem, these war crimes, this fundamental breaking of the nation –potentially beyond any real repair– is what you are asking for.

If Civil War has a flaw, it's probably one of two things: that the people who most need to see it probably won't, or that they will and won't get it. It's sure to be divisive among the rest of the audience, and it lays bare some truths about war, how journalism should be conducted, how we value that in contemporary society, and about the national character. Mostly, though, it lets you know that no one wins a war. That the fighting is ugly, dehumanizing, and terrifying and should be avoided at all costs.

It's a warning that hopefully, we don't need –four in five Americans don't believe that violence will be the answer after all– but at the same time, it feels both timely and direct and shouldn't be missed.

Movie Review: "Civil War" Is A Timely, Must-See Cautionary Tale