History Film / CivilWar2024

* {{Trumplica}}: Downplayed. The unnamed President has more of a [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy-esque]] appearance in dark hair with some grey streaks, but it's a very distinctive, high volume hair style. His news broadcast indicates some of Trump's tendency to exaggerate ("The greatest military strike ever made") and it's said that he has a major and violent anti-journalist policy. He's also dissolved Federal and ''likely'' State agencies before, as Trump has repeatedly threatened to do.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: It's heavily implied that, aside from [[MyCountryRightOrWrong soldiers and personnel who'll never stand for mutiny against the US]] and die-hard ultranationalists, ''no one'' likes the sitting American president -- the protagonists (and likely every other journalist in town) dismiss him as yet another dictator in the vein of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu Nicolae Ceausescu]] and Joel and Lee banter about the fact that the President's actions (airstrikes on his own civilians, disbanding various Federal agencies including the FBI, dissolving the constitution, forcing a third term) will make it ''extremely'' hard to have a neutral interview. It's also implied that whatever caused the Western Forces to form had a lot of defecting military, with dialogue at the end saying that the ''last'' generals still allied with the US/the president only now defected. It's bad enough that it got ''deep blue California and deep red Texas to band together''.

* DavidVersusGoliath: In a wider sense, the Western Forces are this compared to the President and the Loyalist States. Despite the military might that Texas and California possess, they are still only two states going against the ''31'' others who are still pro-Union. [[spoiler: Yet WF forces succeed in killing the President and taking over the White House, even though this likely doesn't mean the end of the civil war.]]

** The President also makes his only personal appearances in the beginning and in the end of the movie. In between, he's only heard on the radio at best.

* EvilVersusEvil: The President has scrapped the Constitution, ordered air strikes on American citizens, has journalists shot on sight, forcibly disbanded several Federal agencies, and [[spoiler:likely used Secret Service and either the First Lady or a White House correspondent as bait]]. The rebel factions consist of, at worst, white supremacists murdering entire towns and targeting minorities, and at best, executes (with a level of glee) wounded and surrendered enemy soldiers and shoots unarmed civilians, including [[spoiler:the Secret Service agent who was trying to negotiate the President's surrender, and summarily executes the President.]]

* CrypticBackgroundReference: The exact things that caused the ongoing conflict are left vague, talked about only briefly with terms other characters understand without further elaboration. The closest it gets is characters spitballing a handful of "hardball questions" on why the current President dismantled the FBI, uses airstrikes against American citizens and taking a third term in office, and an offhand mention of "Parkland Maoists" being a faction in the war. Jessie also mentions that Lee earned notoriety for covering the "Antifa Massacre" but doesn't specify [[AmbiguousSyntax if it was done BY or done TO Antifa]].

* LeaveNoSurvivors: The chosen rules of engagement for the Western Forces once they [[spoiler: gain access to the White House. Another journalist, Dave, mentions the WF have specific orders to kill, not capture. This applies to the President and all other occupants, armed or otherwise]].

* NoPartyGiven: The exact political situation that caused the war to happen is not explained, only that there is the main Loyalist government in DC and the opposing faction that is most prominent in the film is called the Western Forces. Any given group the main characters come across are not specified as to which side they are fighting for, excepting the very end [[spoiler: as they accompany the Western Forces on their invasion of DC]]. The Western Forces are said to be primarily backed by California and Texas, who are traditionally the most diametrically opposed to each other politically. The current President is said to have disbanded the FBI, used drone and aircraft strikes against US citizens and on a third term, none being party specific hot points (though [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed may be inspired by claims of specific individuals]]).

* ShootTheMessenger: [[spoiler: When the Western Forces take the White House, an unarmed Secret Service agent attempts to negotiate the safe surrender and extraction of the President. She is quickly gunned down by the soldiers, who have orders to kill the President and clearly view her negotiation attempts as no more than a delaying tactic]].

* TheSquad: The small team of Western Forces soldiers that [[spoiler: breach the White House]] consists of what appear to be 3 Air Force or special forces operatives, an Army sergeant and a Marine Corps gunner.

* {{Trumplica}}: Downplayed. The unnamed President has more of a [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy-esque]] appearance in dark hair with some grey streaks, but it's a very distinctive, high volume hair style. His news broadcast indicates some of Trump's tendency to exaggerate statements ("The greatest military strike ever made") and it's said that he has a major, and violent, anti-journalist policy. He's also dissolved Federal and ''likely'' State agencies before, as Trump has repeatedly threatened to do so before.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[spoiler: Before the invasion of Washington, D.C., it is revealed the majority of federal Loyalist troops and their commanding generals have surrendered to the Western Forces. However, there is a small collection of soldiers (and Secret Service agents) who remain to protect the President despite the overwhelming odds, and are described by another embedded journalist as "do-or-die"]].
* TheUnreveal: The agenda of Western Forces and Florida Alliance when it comes to ideology and policy isn't specified. The most we know is that they seceded from the USA for reasons that probably included objecting to the actions of the President, and now one their war goals is to depose him. Furthermore, the New People's Army isn't mentioned in the film other than being present in the official map posted on social media.

* VillainBall: [[spoiler:Although he would still lose power, the President would probably have been able to survive in exile had he made smarter decisions. Instead of fleeing Washington, D.C. once the majority of his Generals and Loyalist soldiers surrender to the Western Forces, he decides to hole up in the White House with only a handful of die-hard soldiers and Secret Service agents to protect him [[LastStand against overwhelming odds of losing]]. He doesn't even utilise the underground command bunker or various tunnels leading out of the complex once WF soldiers breach the perimeter. Only when they are inside does he attempt to negotiate surrender and extraction to a "neutral territory", which obviously fails and allows the secessionists to shoot through his remaining bodyguards and execute him in the Oval Office]].

* TheWhiteHouse: When the Western Forces arrive in DC, they find the White House has been heavily fortified, with large concrete walls erected around the entire estate (as well as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Treasury Building). [[spoiler:However, with their superior firepower they are able to breach the walls, fight off the remaining loyalist Secret Service agents and ultimately capture and kill the defiant President in the Oval Office]].

Set in the near future, the story sees the USA being engulfed in a new civil war, with nineteen states having seceded from the country. On one side lies the Western Forces, a militia group led by the secessionist states while on the other side are the loyalist states, commandeered by the corrupt president. In the middle of this war, a group of journalists--Lee (Dunst), Joel (Moura), Sammy (Henderson), and Jessie (Spaeny)--go on a dangerous mission to make it to Washington D.C. as the Western Forces gear to attack the capital, navigating through a war-torn America.

* NoodleIncident: What started the war in the first place is never examined, [[NothingIsScarier which makes the whole thing even worse]].

* LameLastWords: [[spoiler: The President himself]], when asked for a quote comes out with a stuttering "Don't let them kill me.", to which Joel repleis "That'll do." and lets the soldiers kill him.

* IntrepidReporter: Deconstructed. It doesn't get more intrepid than risking life and limb to document the horrors of war, but the four journalists at the film's center are shown to be hardened, broken people who struggle with unimaginable trauma - all for news outlets that may or may not even function anymore. (Sammy is said to work for "what remains of the ''New York Times''".)

* LameLastWords: [[spoiler: The President himself]], when asked for a quote comes out with a stuttering "don't let them kill me" to which Joel says "that'll do" and lets the soldiers kill him.

** The President's wanton use of air/drone strikes on civilians directly mirrors leftist and progressive anti-Obama rhetoric, due to his expansion of military drone usage and high-profile incidents of US Military personnel drone striking MENA civilians simply for being at funerals.

**
* {{Hypocrite}}: The film posits that anyone who claims they're "staying out of the war" are simply either putting their heads in the sand or lying about their involvement in it; both Lee and Jessie's parents act like nothing in America is out of the ordinary, despite ''their daughters risking their lives on the frontline'', and a small town that the protagonists pass through claim to "stay out of politics", but as Lee and Sammy observe militia watching them closely, it's left unsaid that even enforced neutrality isn't "staying out of politics".

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: It's heavily implied that, aside from [[MyCountryRightOrWrong soldiers and personnel who'll never stand for mutiny against the US]] and die-hard ultranationalists, ''no one'' likes the sitting American president -- the protagonists (and likely every other journalist in town) dismiss him as yet another dictator in the vein of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu Nicolae Ceausescu]] and Joel and Lee banter about the fact that the President's actions (airstrikes on his own civilians, disbanding various Federal agencies including the FBI, dissolving the constitution, forcing a third term) will make it ''extremely'' hard to have a neutral interview. It's also implied that whatever caused the Western Forces to form had a lot of defecting military, with dialogue at the end saying that the ''last'' generals still allied with the US/the president only now defected. It's bad enough that it got ''deep blue California and deep red Texas to band together.

** Anya, while very composed about it, casually reports on the Washington D.C. battle despite being right on the front lines and barely seems fazed by the fighting

** Jessie photographs a crashed and burned out military helicopter, which wouldn't look out of place in various foreign warzones. However, it is in the parking lot of a JCPenney in a normal suburban commercial shopping district. Bullet ridden Humvees and feral dogs are also seen running around the same area.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Although Lee is a war journalist and not a soldier, she is still clearly traumatized by the horrific sights she's seen over the course of her career, and the fact that she's now seeing them in her home country makes it even worse.

** During the first action sequence, {{Right Wing Militia Fanatic}}s deliberately shoot and kill an injured loyalist who had no weapon and was clearly in no state to fight; this evokes [[https://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/19/u_s_war_crimes_in_fallujah a US Marine being caught shooting an injured fighter]] on camera during the Battle of Fallujah.

* {{Hypocrite}}: The film posits that anyone who claims they're "staying out of the war" are simply either putting their heads in the sand or lying about their involvement in it; both Lee and Jessie's parents act like nothing in America is out of the ordinary, despite ''their daughters risking their lives on the frontline'', and a small town that the protagonists pass through claim to "stay out of politics", but as Lee, Joel, and Sammy observe militia watching them closely, it's left unsaid that even enforced neutrality isn't "staying out of politics".

* FastRoping: Dave, a fellow journalist, proudly tells Joel during the WashingtonDCInvasion that earlier in the day he got footage of Western Forces soldiers "repelling out of a chopper onto the roof of the ''fucking Pentagon''".

**

** In the film itself, a scene where soldiers capture enemies and summarily execute them is soundtracked by De La Soul's peppy "Say No Go".

* {{Trumplica}}: Downplayed. The unnamed President has more of a [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy-esque]] appearance in dark hair with some grey streaks, but it's a very distinctive, high volume hair style. His news broadcast indicates some of Trumps tendency to exaggerate statements ("The greatest military strike ever made") and it's said that he has a major, and violent, anti-journalist policy.

** The President's BlatantLies about the secessionist forces suffering massive casualties and being nowhere near Washington D.C. not only evokes UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" slogan after the capture and execution of UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein that supposedly would end [TheWarOnTerror, it also refers to Saddam's Baathist cronies claiming the Americans were defeated and nowhere near Baghdad when US tanks were entering the city.

* CrypticBackgroundReference: The exact things that caused the ongoing conflict are left vague, talked about only briefly with terms other characters understand without further elaboration. The closest it gets is characters spitballing a handful of "hardball questions" on why the current President dismantled the FBI, uses airstrikes against American citizens and taking a third term in office. Jessie also mentions that Lee earned notoriety for covering the "Antifa Massacre" but doesn't specify [[AmbiguousSyntax if it was done BY or done TO Antifa]].

* EvilVersusEvil: The President has scrapped the Constitution, ordered air strikes on American citizens, has journalists shot on sight, forcibly disbanded several Federal agencies, and [[spoiler:likely used Secret Service and either the First Lady or a White House correspondent as bait]]. The rebel factions consist of, at worst, white supremacists murdering entire towns and targeting minorities executes (with a level of glee) wounded and surrendered enemy soldiers and shoots unarmed civilians, including [[spoiler:the Secret Service agent who was trying to negotiate the President's surrender, and summarily executes the President.]]

* HumansAreBastards: Much like any movie that shows humanity would be happy to destroy itself for whatever reason, only here it's worse when ''a single country of humans'' is happy to destroy itself for whatever reason. ''All'' of the factions, especially the WF, have absolutely no qualms killing anybody who don't think or act like they do, which goes to show how far America has fallen.

** The Western Forces soldiers at least are compassionate enough to tell the photojournalists to stay close with them in order to prevent being shot and even telling them to get back from being in the line of fire. [[spoiler: They even managed to hold back from executing the President just so Joel can get a quote from the former, to which in return they even get a photo of themselves standing over the President's body post-execution (implied to be taken by Jessie)]]

* WarCrimeSubvertsHeroism: The [[spoiler: Western Forces]] are able to take Washington, D.C. and overthrow the dictatorial fascist President, as well as his government and military forces. [[spoiler: They also murder numerous unarmed civilians whilst doing so, and execute the President in the Oval Office instead of capturing him to stand trial for his crimes. Soldiers even pose for a [[BattleTrophy photo with his corpse]] afterwards]].

* WorldLimitedToThePlot: While the civil war is raging in America, almost nothing is said about what the state of the rest of the world is in with the world's largest superpower essentially collapsing overnight. Besides a scene showing how Canadians dollars are now worth more than American ones and a British journalist covering the battle in D.C., absolutely nothing is known about what is happening outside of America's borders.

** The President's hostility towards journalists is reminiscent of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's well-documented animosity with the press, whom he has referred to as the "enemy of the people". Similarly, he's noted to have disbanded the FBI; Trump's legal issues both in and out of office have led him to repeatedly clash with federal law enforcement (and the non-partisan civil service as a whole).

** The unnamed militia soldier who [[spoiler:kills Tony and Bohai]] is a smirking, detached white nationalist with [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking odd taste in eyewear]], recalling the post-ironic alt-right movement.
** [[spoiler:The President is dragged screaming from under the Oval Office desk and executed by rebel soldiers after begging for his life, which is pretty close to what actually happened to UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi.]] In addition, [[spoiler:Jessie taking a picture of WF soldiers gleefully posing over the President's corpse is reminiscent of the famous picture of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's killers doing the same]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Sammy and Lee are killed during their trek from New York to Washington DC, with the former being mortally wounded by a nationalist extremist and the latter being killed by Secret Service agents (right in front of Jessie no less) during the shootout in the White House. Western Forces have successfully invaded Washington D.C, murdered a woman implied to be the First Lady, an unarmed Secret Service agent negotiating surrender, and finally the President himself, with Joel getting only a brief quote from the President (rather than a full interview) before he is summarily executed, all while a hardened Jessie takes a photo.]] [[spoiler: Furthermore, it is left ambiguous on what happens to the overall state of the civil war as a whole, and whether or not the death of the President means that the war finally ends if at all. But given the [[CrapsackWorld state of things shown throughout America]], and how [[HumansAreBastards all factions involved in the war have little to no redeeming qualities]], it is highly likely that the United States will be destined to become a failed state.]]

* EvilVersusEvil: The President has scrapped the Constitution, ordered air strikes on American citizens, and has journalists shot. The WF executes (with a level of glee) wounded and surrendered enemy soldiers and shoots unarmed civilians, including [[spoiler:the Secret Service agent who was trying to negotiate the President's surrender, and summarily executes the President.]]

** Tony and Bohai, Joel's friends who are from Hong Kong and covering the events of the Second Civil War alongside American reporters.

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: A group of gunmen (credited only as "commercial soldiers") the group observe fighting Loyalist troops are seen wearing [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement colorful Hawaiian shirts]] with their camo and grey body armor.

* NoPartyGiven: The exact political situation that caused the war to happen is not explained, only that there is the main Loyalist government in DC and the opposing faction that is most prominent in the film is called the Western Forces. Any given group the main characters come across are not specified as to which side they are fighting for, excepting the very end [[spoiler: as they accompany the Western Forces on their invasion of DC]]. The Western Forces are said to be primarily backed by California and Texas, who are traditionally the most diametrically opposed to each other politically. The current President is said to have disbanded the FBI, used drone strikes against US citizens and on a third term, none being party specific hot points (though [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed may be inspired by claims of specific individuals]]).

* PetTheDog: The Western Forces soldiers at least are compassionate enough to tell the photojournalists to stay close with them in order to prevent being shot and even telling them to get back from being in the line of fire. [[spoiler: They even managed to hold back from executing the President just so Joel can get a quote from the former, to which in return they even get a photo of themselves standing over the President's body post-execution (implied to be taken by Jessie)]]

* PresidentEvil: Strongly implied. Nick Offerman's President is now on his ''third'' term, and is perfectly willing to send the military to bomb his own citizens. Sammy even compares him directly to [[UsefulNotes/NicolaeCeausescu Nicolae Ceaușescu]], UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, and UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: The soldiers who capture Bohai and Jessie [[spoiler:and later kill Bohai and Tony]] are noted not to be government forces, but it's not clear who they ''are'' fighting for. They espouse virulent anti-immigrant, white nationalist beliefs while interrogating the protagonists. They might just be a couple of racists who got their hands on some guns and camo.

* SociopathicSoldier: The nationalist militiaman played by Creator/JessePlemons. While he targets the non-white members of the group first, the fact that he commits [[spoiler: two]] open-and-shut cases of murder makes it pretty unlikely he'd have allowed the white witnesses to live, especially given the high probability he was involved in the killings of the truckload of corpses he's disposing of. His silent and unnamed partner also likely fits the bill, as he seems fully complicit in everything the talkative one does, with no sign of objection.

** [[spoiler:Seeing that a British journalist was with the Western Forces, it could be possible that other nations are sympathetic to the WF, and wherever he would go, he would risk being arrested, and considering that he is a fascist president, it's not unlikely that other nations would hand him back over to the winning factions in the US to face justice there. ]]

* VillainBall: [[spoiler: Although he would still lose power, the President would probably have been able to survive in exile had he made smarter decisions. Instead of fleeing Washington, D.C. once the majority of his Generals and Loyalist soldiers surrender to the Western Forces, he decides to hole up in the White House with only a handful of die-hard soldiers and Secret Service agents to protect him [[LastStand against overwhelming odds of losing]]. He doesn't even utilise the underground command bunker or various tunnels leading out of the complex once WF soldiers breach the perimeter. Only when they are inside does he attempt to negotiate surrender and extraction to a "neutral territory", which obviously fails and allows the secessionists to shoot through his remaining bodyguards and execute him in the Oval Office]].
** [[spoiler: Seeing that a British journalist was with the Western Forces, it could be possible that other nations are sympathetic to the WF, and wherever he would go, he would risk being arrested, and considering that he is a fascist president, it's not unlikely that other nations would hand him back over to the winning factions in the US to face justice there. ]]

* TheWarRoom: Played with. [[spoiler: Inside the White House several state rooms and the cabinet room are filled with a mess of desks, communications equipment and abandoned food, indicating extensive use for tactical planning in the lead up to the invasion of Washington, D.C. Interestingly, the Presidential Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), the buildings ''actual'' war room located underground in a bunker, is not shown]].

* TheWhiteHouse: When the Western Forces arrive in DC, they find the White House has been heavily fortified, with large concrete walls erected around the entire estate (as well as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Treasury Building). [[spoiler: However, with their superior firepower they are able to breach the walls, fight off the remaining loyalist Secret Service agents and ultimately capture and kill the defiant President in the Oval Office]].