Written by Zoe Crombie

Though he rose to prominence writing scripts for Danny Boyle hits like 28 days Later, Alex Garland has fully emerged in the past decade as a gutsy director in his own right. Specialising in dense, cerebral films that don’t skimp on elaborate CG enhanced visuals, Garland’s directorial debut Ex Machina quickly became a classic among android movies, with the acclaimed Annihilation cementing his position as a speculative fiction auteur.

Civil War may seem to, on the surface, buck this trend as a dystopian war drama about a politically divided United States, but the grim ‘what if?’ streak that runs through his other films is perfectly placed here. Once again, Garland takes an element of modern life and draws it out to its logical extreme, resulting in a brutal look at life in the trenches of political divisions that have only been dug deeper in recent years. And with the fantastic Kirsten Dunst in the lead role as a war photographer, you’re in good hands throughout this terrifying glimpse into a truly dark timeline.

Garland’s latest certainly doesn’t make for easy viewing; it’s violent, graphic, and hell bent on showing the cruellest sides of humanity. But, like the rest of his filmography, it’s a bold statement that has to be seen on a cinema screen – fitting for the most expensive film ever produced by boutique studio A24.

Civil War runs from 10th - 16th May

Tickets & Showtimes: https://dukeslancaster.org/wha...