A24's 'Civil War' isn't out yet, but the internet is already going to war over it

Following a much buzzed-about trailer, Alex Garland’s political action thriller Civil War had its world premiere at SXSW last Thursday, garnering a slew of rave reviews. The reaction online since then — both to the movie itself and reviews out of the film festival — have been divisive, which might have been Garland’s purpose. Set during a second American Civil War in a not-so-distant future, the film follows four journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) on a road trip through the war-torn U.S. on a quest to interview the president (Nick Offerman) before secessionist forces invade Washington, D.C. SEE ALSO: ‘Civil War’ review: Alex Garland’s latest is more ‘Men,’ less ‘Ex Machina’ The A24 film doesn’t open in theaters until April 12. But that hasn’t stopped social media users from conversing about the film from the title alone. With reviews out of SXSW confirming that the movie is about the power of journalism rather than politics, some on social are going to war over it. Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Maybe “going to war” is a bit hyperbolic. But having seen Civil War myself at its SXSW premiere, it’s strange to see such opinionated takes ahead of its wide release. These divisive reactions might support Garland’s point about the dangers of an “us versus them” mentality, whatever the politics. (Though personally, I found the film’s apolitical approach unconvincing.)To begin with, there was a lot of confusion about why California and Texas…A24's 'Civil War' isn't out yet, but the internet is already going to war over it