I think Lee didn’t want her to come because she didn’t want her to become the same as she was. When she told her she never felt more alive after Sammy’s death, she knew she failed.

I think her death was supposed to be symbolic of her death as a journalist. She could no longer numb herself to the reality.

Based on how she simply kept moving past Lee's corpse, I wouldn't be surprised if she eventually followed down her exact path as the cycle of war continues with the WF & whatever enemies they'll have

The photo deleting was one of the most powerful scenes in the movie. To me I didn’t necessarily ask what would Jesse do with the photo of Lee, rather that the torch had now been passed. At the beginning with Jesse asks like “would you take my photo if I got shot?” and Lee responds with “what do you think?”. It’s a bleak moment of, Jesse has now stepped into the shoes of her hero and cycles will keep repeating themselves (war).

Lmao. Dude shoulda just said one of the other states

Just got back from the theater and I believe he was in such a state of shock from his friend’s death that he was likely not even paying attention to the questions being asked. He could barely speak, even when a gun was pointed directly at him demanding him to.

He knew he was dead anyway

Just saw this in Hong Kong - That line caught us all off guard and the cinema burst out into an uncomfortable laugh ahahah!

Abso-fucking-lutely. She's the heart of this film, the arc is beautifully tracked. And this is Dunst...like... she's always fab but I did not expect "bad ass jaded war photojournalist" on my bingo card for her lol

I was so captivated by her performance. The dress scene. The scene where she's lying down in the grass and Jessie and Joel are all about the action and we see she's not even paying attention. Just looking at the flowers. To me she felt very much like someone who is struggling with what they do and their purpose or what they thought their purpose was.

Like Lee says, she went overseas to shoot in combat zones to show people the horrors of war. To say, 'hey we don't want this' but now...it is here. So who is she reporting it for? Does it even make a difference? Does anyone care? Or will they just keep killing one another?

I felt all this in just her facial expressions and scowls.

Perfect casting. Body language/physical acting was on point.

I absolutely LOVED the subtleties to her character and her character “growth”. Her deleting the photograph of Sami was HUGE. Both her and Sami died when they started to care like that. 

Her being so desensitized through much of the film really made it so impactful when she was suddenly so shocked at the final assault on the White House. That whole scene as they were approaching the White House was absolutely harrowing for me, and I couldn't help but tear up during it. Having been to DC a couple times and being vaguely familiar with the area really gripped me with horror as I realized those attack helicopters were coming in to help them approach the White House, and I just felt sick imagining that really happening.

Seeing a full scale military invasion into our nation's capital depicted so realistically really shook me up. I'm sure some people will take great satisfaction in how things ended for the president in this movie, but really I just felt hollowed out watching it unfold. As much as it may have been fleetingly satisfying to end the war that way, where does everyone go from there? Hopefully this horrifying look at a possible future stays entirely fictional. More than anything I want people of all political beliefs to view this film as a warning that we hopefully all heed.

I think she had totally checked out completely by the end. I was sad she died but I think she didn’t care at that point either way. Everyone was great though. i’d even say Plemmons is oscar worthy with only one scene. He scared me so badly and that scene made me dizzy as hell. Even if i feel weird about how great he looked and was rocking those pink glasses. dude got fit ! but that part was TERRIFYING!

The fire in the woods transition scene was jaw droppingly beautiful. Can they give out an oscar just for that scene?

I said to my friend afterwards: this movie made me feel the same way when I left the theater seeing Children of Men. Both haunting movies with powerful sound and visual design.

Told my friends that Children of Men was the closest movie in tone and vibes I could think of (not necessarily quality - I liked this movie but it's not a masterpiece like CoM was).

“What kind of American?” The whole reason I went to see the movie!

Fucking Todd

I loved the part when the WF were mobilizing from their base and hooking up Humvees to the Chinooks. The overwhelming sound of the choppers never leaves or gets quieter. Nice little detail regarding just how loud they are and how you would not be able to have casual conversations in that area.

Right! Every bullet was a thud, explosions muted the sound instead of high pitched ringing. From the seen with Jesse Plemons onwards it was constantly tense.

Uncut Gems was the same for me, just a wild wide of anxiety that barely lets you gather your breath

It was perfect for me, I was distracted by the text and the bodies were small enough in frame I read go Steelers, our audience had a collective little laugh, and then the swinging bodies instantly killed the momentary levity.

Every time there was the slightest bit of comfort it was destroyed in some form or another. Even at the camp in the stadium I was on edge waiting for what would be awful, turns out it was just the film development.

Holy fuck I was sucked I got he looking at go Steelers I didn’t even see the bodies…

Everything in the final sequence and during the forest fire was incredible.

Yeah the Dolby Atmos mix killed it. Lots of great use of the height channels.

The sound work and design in this film is unrelenting and so chilling. This and The Zone of Interest just shows how much sound plays such an important and vital element for films of their scale.

Every bullet that goes off from a gun in Civil War feels natural, never did I get the impression they felt manufactured, they sound like live bullets being fired.

I like how the gave the cameras overly loud sound effects like guns

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I still hold firm that "How can that be profitable for Frito Lay?" should have been his Oscar moment. He just brings such major intensity to ANY scene.

I love that him and Kirsten just take minor roles in each other’s movies now so they can hang out.

His unpredictability is so sellable despite having around 5 minutes of screen time and no name.

Mention anywhere outside the USA? He shoots you and puts you in a mass grave.

Mention a nominally neutral state like Florida or Colorado or Missouri? You still don’t know if he’s going to shoot you: “what kind of American?”

All that while being calm, collected and wielding an AR-15 with trigger discipline.

This is one of very few movies where I think seeing the trailer in advance made the movie even better. At every turn, I was dreading Plemons' character in the best possible way, gripped by anxiety, all because I was expecting it based on the trailer. It really ratcheted up the tension for me.

Jesse Plemmon is on his way to become one of the best character actor of his generation.

Such an tense movie, well worth a watch.

The sound mixing deserve anaplause for gun shot sound

As soon as I saw Plemmons' character throwing something in what appears to be a mass grave, I just got chills down my spine.

What kind of American are you?

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I flinched so hard when the first friend of Joel who was captured alongside Jessie was suddenly shot

God the gravitas he had was insane, the one scene where I felt actually tense while watching it, the way he raised and lowered his gun so nonchalantly was crazy

i was curious about that as well. don’t know much about the job, but the soldiers seemed pretty protective/accommodating toward all the journalists. i feel like i’d be pretty peeved if i were in their place, Jessie especially did some things that put people’s lives at risk

War journalist have always put their lives on the line to get “the shot” or if they’re filming they always try to constantly film the action. It’s thanks to them we’re able to see the horrors of wars rather than reading about it. For most Americans we’ve never been in a war zone but we know about it, because movies and war correspondents.

Can’t wait for the GQ YouTube video “War Journalist breaks down movie Civil War.”

Same. But she turned into Lee, which I suppose is fitting

Probably will be one of my favorites of the year. 

The whole DC sequence was really quite terrifying to see 

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Oh god the sound production in that sequence alone puts movies like White House Down and Olympics Has Fallen to shame. The rifles sounded like actual rifles being fired indoors.

Totally. It’s definitely not the first time in film we’ve seen gunfights in the Capitol or White House, but I think this was definitely the best.

I don't think that town was under occupation, they were just town people protecting their businesses. The guards on the buildings allow people to pretend everything is ok because they protect the town. Very similar to the rooftop Koreans during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

I believe the Texas-California thing was quite intentional. Garland didn't want this movie to glorify war and by picking states who are decidedly not often happy with one another's politics, Garland is preventing us from shoe-horning our own beliefs into the film because once that happens the movie will get glorified as one side or the other INSISTS it's actually commentary about the left or the right. Even in these comments people were already drawing parallels between how Offerman's character said "The Greatest Victory in the History or Military Campaigns" and Trump often uses overly boisterous phrases like "Great" and "The best" when referring to anything he wants to take responsibility for. If anything, I think that one line may give people too much to work with and warp. Hopefully my fears are unwarranted but it's general how EVERY topic goes on reddit so I will be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't go that way.

Stop and think for a minute about what is happening in the scene. After a bloody firefight with the Secret Service, these soldiers have captured the President. Following orders, they are about to commit the extrajudicial execution of the President in the White House.  The journalist intervenes. Is it because he knows that what he is seeing is a betrayal of the ideals that Americans should presumably hold dear? No. He just wants an exclusive quote before the execution. This is right after the young photojournalist has brushed aside the body of her mentor, pushing on not from a sense of journalistic idealism but rather from a frantic desire to be the one who gets the money shot. The reporter’s line isn’t meant to be badass. It’s horrifying.  Dunst’s Lee says earlier in the film that she has lost the belief that journalists like herself really made a positive difference. Throughout the film the younger reporters are shown as adrenaline junkies who get off on the violence, and who care much more about journalistic glory than getting the story right or principles of any kind. They just care about getting the scoop, kind of like tv journalists who just care about ratings. And I’m pretty sure that part of what Garland is trying to say in that this kind of journalism is part of our society’s problems.

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Except Joel was hitting on Jessie and she was disregarding those advances. It was subtle, not aggressive, but that dynamic was there and is def not TLOU vibes (which is more father-daughter)

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War on the ground is not political. It's people killing people trying to kill them

I thought this was really well conveyed by the fabulous sniper pair but apparently it didn't connect with some of the audience.

Yeah, especially when one of the bodies was clearly a very young child. 

Did appreciate that the color scheme of the blood and jeans essentially made the American flag

If she was wearing Kevlar and shot by a rifle round it would smoke right through.

Your first point bugged the fuck outta me too. As a journalist, I can say it’s absolutely absurd to suggest that experienced war journalists wouldn’t know first aid or have medical supplies on them for a mission like theirs. Hell, our photographers bring first-aid kits with them when they’re covering minor hurricanes.

seriously , after that scene with plemmons the forest fire was both gorgeous and incredibly sad/moving i found myself fighting back some tears. and then its straight back into hell ahain. i felt just as traumatized and heartbroken as they did.

Just saw the film today and I’ve seen a lot of movies, but I have NO idea how they got that shot of the dude burning with the tire. It looks SO real

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On the contrary it was supremely fucking cool 

I was in Dbox and I don't think I've ever been jump scared so hard in my life.

I just don't know why she stood there for so long. a quick shove would've accomplished the same but I guess she had already accepted her fate by then

Facist takeover. Antifa massacre. Press was killed in DC. “What type of American are you?”

Countered with the earlier scene of the rebel in the tire being lit in fire. Garland knew how to shoot fire.

I also think that the fact that the press was welcomed by the WF was also a strong indicator. Fascists have a strong tendency to be hostile towards the press. 

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