Civil War follows the story of war journalists who attempt to travel to Washington DC in order to get the latest byte from the President Of The United States, while the country finds itself in the middle of a massive civil war. The story here has an interesting premise while setting the drama only in the near future and reimagining the atrocities of war within the country. Now this isn’t your typical war movie with heroes rising from the ashes to save the day. This is a war erupting from an internal conflict while the drama consistently remains apolitical in its approach. So as a viewer, you aren’t exactly aware of what the conflict is, which was exactly the point of the drama as well. Usually, apolitical dramas do not raise the stake as much given that they choose to unfold at a lower wavelength without taking sides. But Civil War is different. It almost blurs the conflict to the point wherein the chaos of a civil war is out of hand and the people have forgotten on what the original conflict was in the first place. And this results in a thrilling and uncompromising drama that chooses to focus on the plight of the war journalists over the course of its runtime of 110 minutes. 

The drama begins with a mild introduction of the President of the United States practicing for a speech that he wishes to convey to his people amidst the outbreak of a massive civil war. The character does have a searing resemblance to Trump even with his carefree mannerisms that indicate an authoritarian at work that has completely demolished the prevalent democracy in the country. Yet, the film quickly shifts focus to the protagonists who are shown to be war journalists known for covering the situation at the ground level. And very early on, the perils of their occupation is established wherein they barely manage to survive a suicide bomb blast while covering the events on ground. But ambition also plays an important role in the occupation wherein the protagonists decide to make their way to DC to get a final byte from the President before the White House falls. The journey is dangerous but worth the risk! 

The proceedings are engaging while maintaining a tense ambience at various junctures of the road trip. There is a hint of a mental trauma disturbing one of the protagonists Lee, a veteran of war journalism having consistently been witness to the torture and killings during her tenure. On the other hand is Jessie, a rookie photographer with the exuberance and carelessness of youth who looks up to Lee while aspiring to cover the war while climbing up the ladder of success. These different ideologies often meet a common ground as they make their way to DC amidst the escalating tensions of war, some of which are brutal and almost threatening to stall their journey, and worst still, their lives. 

I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that this can also be termed as a very unique road movie that captures the horrors of the war through the lens of the protagonists. There are several tense moments along the way even as the writers decide to raise the stakes in the drama by bumping off important characters along the way, even as the ambience manages to put you as a viewer on a knife edge! The events are powerful and traumatic even as the drama continues to be apolitical in its approach leading up to the finale that briefly flirts with the line of sensationalism and simply reporting the events of the war(in this case through some startling images). The screenplay is relentless and scorching in its approach and makes for a rather tense watch.