Alex Garland’s 'Civil War': Shock of the New for Some

The chickens always come home to roost.

(Quick note before we begin: the essay-based portion of this Substack is gonna remain free, but I’m introducing a new subscriber tier that’ll feature weekly fiction, starting off with a re-release of my “lost” cyberpunk novel “Maxine Unleashes Doomsday.” You’ll see an email about that tomorrow!)

A few weeks before the election, I opted to watch “Civil War,” Alex Garland’s film about the U.S. collapsing into yet another rebellion. Topical, obviously. Plus, I’ve always liked Garland, who’s adept at binding complicated, often highly abstract concepts into speedy, midbudget sci-fi spectaculars—I’m thinking of the quantum computing and the debate over free will at the heart of “Devs,” or the physics-bending bomb the size of Kansas in “Sunshine.”

“Civil War” envisions the U.S. split into a handful of rival factions, the most vigorous of which is the Western Forces, headlined by Texas and California. The protagonists are two war photographers (played by Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny; burned …