A new trailer for A24’s upcoming “Civil War” movie was released Tuesday, portraying a deeply divided United States engaging in armed conflict, even leading to the destruction of the Lincoln Memorial. “Civil War” is scheduled to be released in theaters and IMAX on April 26.
The futuristic “Civil War” movie features Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Cailee Spaeny, and Sonoya Mizuno. The movie’s second trailer builds upon the suspense created in the first trailer, which was previously released in December. The new trailer features chilling scenes of a war between a three-term dictatorial president and two major alliances between individual states.
According to Entertainment Weekly, “Civil War” follows Dunst’s character, a journalist who is attempting to enter Washington, D.C., with a group of reporters despite the threat of journalists being “shot on sight.”
The new trailer features a unique whistle rendition of “America the Beautiful” as violent scenes portray a futuristic war between rebellious states, concluding with a dramatic scene of a rocket launcher blowing up the historic Lincoln Memorial.
Entertainment Weekly reported that while the specific details regarding the plot of the upcoming movie have been kept quiet, the movie involves 19 states seceding from the United States, prompting significant tension between the “Florida Alliance,” the “Western Forces” of California and Texas, and the U.S. military commanded by the president.
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The alliance between California and Texas has prompted viewers to question how the two states could join forces when the states are currently on polar opposite sides of the political spectrum. However, director Alex Garland recently told Empire that the question is something he wants viewers to consider as they watch the film.
“That’s embedded in the film,” he said. “I tend not to spell things out in films. I sometimes feel overly spoon-fed by cinema, and so I probably just react against that. That question, why Texas and California, is a question that I want the audience to ask.”
Garland explained his intention was to make the upcoming “Civil War” film feel grounded. He said that while the film has been “described as sci-fi,” he does not view it as sci-fi at all. He also highlighted the importance of journalists and the role that journalists play throughout the film.
“Journalists are vilified, often, by all sorts of different people. By politicians, by the public. It’s not necessarily a side of a political spectrum,” Garland said. “And the truth is that if you want a government with checks and balances, you need journalists. In the inferences within the film, one of them is an inference about journalists, and about how important they are.”
