5 out of 5 stars.
I had a good time watching this movie. It thrilled me. It kept me engaged. But it scared the shit out of me. Might as well be “horror movie of the year” and it’s not even meant to be in that genre I don’t think. What really struck me about Civil War is how eerily close to home it feels. The movie dives headfirst into political and social unrest, painting a picture of an America torn apart by all too familiar divisiveness and escalating violence. The battles may be fictional, but the atmosphere is unsettlingly close to what we see in today’s headlines. Watching it, I couldn’t help but feel like I was looking into a dark mirror, seeing a warning of a possible near-future where the very real building polarization and fear we’re seeing today has spiraled completely out of control, so realistically.
What makes it even more chilling is the way the film doesn’t rely on over-the-top dystopian elements like you see in other apocalyptic films. It’s grounded in the here and now. The characters aren’t far-off caricatures, but people who could easily exist in the world we live in today. That’s what makes Civil War so effective—it feels like the stakes are real, and that the collapse of order isn’t just fiction but a disturbing possibility.
Scary stuff.
