Review by duckduckpoose

What should have been a case study in what could lead people to civil war was just was a voyeuristic look into what an American conflict would like. Its told through the lens of photojournalism (which was bit annoying and added incessant cuts in the film). From a character development standpoint it just wasn't there , the film is full of caricatures but not characters. The plot is pretty thin and as someone who is a Garland fan I felt dissatisfied with this film. The movie is an antiwar film and its clear the director wants to pacify an American audience that might feel like civil war is a viable option in our current political climate. To achieve this he makes the president look cartoonishly evil. And in way he also reflects the mania and cruelness of the rebel forces. The film functions as a kind of cathartic thought study to quell very real divisions that exist in modern American society by exposing the audience to worst case scenario outcome. Overall, the movie felt less like a story and more like a long drawn out warning.