Alex Garland Brings SXSW the Already Controversial ‘Civil War,’ an Anti-War Film About How ‘Journalists Are Getting Shat On’

Last week, in an interview with U.K. outlet, The Guardian, British filmmaker Alex Garland (“Civil War“) reiterated his plans to pause directing efforts for “the foreseeable future.” For some, that’s been distilled and reduced to Garland announcing formal plans to “retire” from filmmaking, something the filmmaker has taken great issues with.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will kick off with Quentin Dupieux‘s “The Second Act,” a star-studded surreal French comedy headlined by Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphaël Quenard, Variety has learned. The anticipated movie is produced by Hugo Selignac at Chi-Fou-Mi, a Mediawan company, and is represented in international markets by Kinology.

Scotland’s Sands International Film Festival Of St Andrews will open on April 19 with a double-bill screening of British writer-director Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature In Camera and Harry Holland’s short film Last Call, starring Tom Holland. 

April kicks off strong with the premiere of the bloody action thriller “Monkey Man,” directed by and starring Dev Patel. That buzzy energy floats throughout the rest of the month, with other genre-leaning films premiering following initial festival runs.

Following comments made last year during the “Men” press tour that he would step away from directing and stick with screenwriting, filmmaker Alex Garland evidently hasn’t changed his mind after helming his latest film, “Civil War.” In a new interview with The Guardian, the U.K. outlet spoke with the filmmaker about his latest political thriller and, in the process, learned Garland is sticking to his previous claim.

As one of A24’s most expensive films, rumored to cost around $50 million, Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is seemingly part of the indie studios’ bigger swing to make more mainstream movies. It’s almost an ironic statement, given that contemporary political films commenting on a current political climate generally do pretty terribly at the box office; aka, a movie about Trump during the Trump administration likely would have tanked in theaters.

Alex Garland‘s “Civil War” isn’t even in theaters yet but he’s already looking to start his next project with A24 as soon as possible. And Deadline has more casting news for Garland and Ray Mendoza‘s upcoming “Warfare.”  Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, and Finn Bennett all join the cast for the project, a veritable who’s who of young UK acting talent.

EXCLUSIVE: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s Warfare feature rounds out its lead cast with Kit Connor (Heartstopper, Rocketman), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun), Will Poulter (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country). The film’s focus and the roles the newly added actors will play remain under wraps.

Who is going to win the Premier League title?

Banff, the Canadian media festival, has unveiled its nominees for its 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition.

The eagerly anticipated musical Come From Away is coming to The Lowry Theatre.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Belgian filmmaker Sofie Benoot‘s “Apple Cider Vinegar,” which has its world premiere in the International Competition section of Visions du Réel, has been picked up for world sales by Filmotor. The trailer and poster are being released exclusively by Variety. The film is narrated by actor Sian Phillips, who appeared in “I, Claudius” and David Lynch’s “Dune,” and is a veteran nature documentary narrator.

Ex Machina director Alex Garland’s recent comments about political differences not being “moral issues” have caused controversy on social media.Garland was speaking in a recent interview about his new film Civil War, which imagines a dystopian future when the USA is engaged in the titular conflict.During the interview, he said that he thought political differences had been made into a matter of morality, which he argued was “fucking idiotic”.“Left and right are ideological arguments about how to run a state. That’s all they are,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “They are not a right or wrong, or good and bad.

Studiocanal has announced a partnership with French production and sales company WTFilms (What The Films).

Naman Ramachandran The first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) has revealed 20 projects that will participate in its accompanying market. Comprising 17 features and three series, several of the projects are by creators who have found acclaim both internationally and in South Asia.

Alex Garland took SXSW 2024 by storm last night with the world premiere of his latest film, “Civil War.” And the new feature, about a near-future United States fractured into warring factions, has many moviegoers excited and anxious about the film’s imminent release in theaters and IMAX next month. THR reports that Garland took questions about his new movie at a Film & TV panel in Austin today to explain why he chose to make “Civil War,” if he’s trying to say anything explicit about American politics, and whether A24‘s release of this film before the 2024 US presidential election is deliberate bad timing or coincidental.

The movie Civil War is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the spring season and it just head its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival.

Look, let’s be honest. From the opening seconds of its debut trailer, we all knew that Alex Garland’s “Civil War” would not be a pill that went down easily.

Alex Garland‘s latest film, Civil War,  from A24 and featuring a star-studded cast including Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, and Nick Offerman, aims to hold a mirror up to a society spiraling out amongst civil war. In a time when flipping through the news or scrolling through social media can feel like peering into dystopia, Garland wants to crystallize these anxieties into a narrative form, offering a prophetic vision of America’s future. However, despite its ambitious premise and high-caliber cast, the movie stands as a muddled reflection, ultimately rendering its cautionary tale less impactful than intended.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic The press are the good guys, but also kind of the bad guys, in Alex Garland’s virtuosic “Civil War,” a jarring ground-level account of what a near-future disunification of the United States might look like. Intended as a wake-up call, the long-fuse thriller — which starts slow and snowballs to a jaw-dropping raid on Washington, D.C. — embeds viewers alongside a dedicated team of journalists making their way to the Capitol while the country unravels around them.