‘Civil War’ might be the year’s most explosive movie. Alex Garland thinks it’s just reporting

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The new film “Civil War” is an ominous attempt to turn widely held American anxieties into a violent, unsettling big-screen reality. Alex Garland’s film opens Friday — the anniversary to the day the Civil War began in 1861. It’s landing in movie theaters just months ahead of a momentous presidential election, making it potentially Hollywood’s most explosive movie of the year. Yet “Civil War” is something far more oblique than its matter-of-fact title. The film, which Garland wrote and directed, isn’t mapped directly against today’s polarization. In a war that’s already ravaged the country, California and Texas have joined forces against a fascist president who’s seized a third term and disbanded the FBI.