callumdignan

A lot of people are commenting on how poorly the film was marketed as it was made out to be a big budget, action packed war film. In some ways it is however this is not like any movie you will have seen before and whether you think that's a good or a bad thing then that is up to you, however one thing is undeniable and that is how important this film is.

America (and let's be honest, a majority of the world) has glorified war and violence for as long as we can remember all under the idea of "fighting for what you believe". While I agree with that statement it creates a lot of divide as everybody in the world have their own beliefs whether they be political, religious, etc. A majority of films that depict war will always make a clear line between who's fighting what side, who we should be rooting for, what it is they are actually fighting for and why. These films typically wind up being very one sided and pushes a very specific narrative (most of the time political). Alex Garland has done the exact opposite for this film.

This film dosen't give you a side to root for because you aren't really offered any information on who's fighting who, why they are fighting, how it started or when, etc. You are instantly dropped straight into a war torn america with no idea of what's actually going on and all you are shown is just how far people are willing to go to fight for what they believe in. You follow Lee and a few of her colleagues who are war photographers/press. Clearly adrenaline junkies who also have a passion for showing the world the real brutality of war and how vicious it can be. I believe Alex Garland purposefully chose these characters for us to follow because a major element of their job is to be completely neutral to either side. You can tell Alex Garland specifically does not want you to pick a side to fight for because that is not the point of the film (hence why you are offered very little information about the warring factions).

The point of the film I believe is to show you the true brutality of war if it were to happen as depicted in this film. War and violence have been glorified massively thanks to a number of different things and a lot of people aren't clued up to just how ruthless it would be if a civil war like this were to truly take place in the real world America. This film sets it straight and it is borderline nightmare fuel. Alex Garlands films always had prominent horror elements and I wondered how they would be implemented here and it truly terrifies purely because of how real it is.

You're not supposed to enjoy this film, this film is a brutal reminder of what true war looks like. A realistic neutral view of a war torn America with some of the most gruesome and ruthless scenes you will see put to film from the perspective of a team of press photographers making their way to DC.

But the real question, is this a good film? Depends how you look at it.

If you look at it from the perspective of it being a dark reminder of war and how brutal it is, it is a masterpiece. However, if you look at it from the perspective of it being a film that's supposed to have a full plot, character development, beginning-middle-end structure, etc. You will not find that here.

Because of the intention behind the film I mentioned above, there really is not much to latch on to in terms of plot or characters, so instead of having anybody to root for or any plot details to keep you intrigued, all you have is "so here's these press photographers heading to DC to try interview the president" and thats it really. They stay neutral, take shots along the way, every now and then get into some trouble and then the film ends.

The main characters continuously make the point that they need to remove emotion from the situation and basically be soulless, they take the shots so that the people who view them can do the feeling and getting emotional on the job leads to failure in any number of different ways. But again, this dosent really make for compelling characters. They're not wrong, as proven by something else that happens later in the film that I won't mention cause you know, spoilers.

So you have a bunch of emotionless characters in a film that basically just consists of them travelling from point A to point B. They are neutral to any side and stop every now and then to take shots of people fighting.

That's basically the film in a nut shell.

There's not much of a plot to speak of because again, the point of the film is not about the actual war, who's fighting who and why, etc. Its about how savage it can get and its supposed to be an outside perspective (like how people would view the shots the press have taken in the film). That's just my take on it anyway.

The film has some incredible visuals and some very striking images, it does a great job at conveying just how much people would lose their humanity if it came to a real civil war like shown in the film. The acting is top notch, directing, etc. However like I mentioned, your feelings towards this film massively depend on what context you view it in and if you view it like any of other film with a fully structured plot and story, it's going to fall massively short (especially with how the trailers and promo material convey the film). Leaving a lot up to interpretation can benefit some films however this one for me personally left a little too much and just didn't give me enough to chew on as an actual story.

So to cap things off I'll say this. It is a very important film. Arguably one of the most important in recent years. Its a dark reminder for people who entertain the ideas presented throughout the runtime. However you will also purely feel like an observer and its very hard to attach yourself to this film. There's nothing really in there to make us feel anything for the characters we're following. Again, yes that was probably intentional because of the themes its presenting but does that make for an entertaining watch? Debatable.

Love Alex Garland, love his films and do think this is a technically great film and appreciate it massively for the message it is trying to push however its not exactly something I'll be rushing to rewatch.

Absolutely wicked. Took a few episodes to properly catch my interest but once it kicks in and the plot starts moving I couldn't stop watching.

Top performances from everybody but gotta shout out Walton Goggins because he smashed it the most by miles. Great direction, cinematography, special effects, music, etc.

Obviously with a show like this you need to use CGI to create certain visuals however for the most part the CGI is actually great and they didn't just use CGI to create everything they needed. You can tell they took the time to use as much practical effects as they needed to create the right aesthetic.

Never played the game myself but have a fair few mates I've seen playing it and I've watched plenty of clips online and from what I can see here they have nailed the look and feel of the world too.

I also very much appreciated that they didn't ease up on the horror/gore elements and the attention to detail with a lot of things was fantastic.

Very excited for season 2 and where they go with it!