4/5
I decided to sit with this movie for a bit before reviewing which I usually don’t do. It was honestly a really good movie. I’ll start off with the obvious: Kristen Dunst was incredible. She is such a genuine talent, I commend her. Cailee Spaeny was amazing as well, but honestly so was everyone. It was very well made for what it was and I really appreciate the attention to detail made obvious in every scene and sequence. I agree with the majority of reviews that it did lack direction and it would’ve had a stronger message had it taken a less apolitical stance but the general anti war message is one we should not forget. A lot of Americans are so desensitized to war, likely because we haven’t seen the effects of it in our cities at all in recent history. We aren’t ever faced with what war truly is and here we get a glimpse. This is an important movie because it’s important to reconnect with our humanity and empathy and to feel our stomach turn in the face of such violence, apathy, and blind hate. As the choice between red and blue becomes more and more polarizing, it’s obvious that this concept is not too far away (although definitely not California and Texas versus the rest of the US? literally why would that be the case? it seems like he just picked two of the biggest states at random but ok).Â
The overarching theme of the movie seemed to me to be more focused on the connection between journalists and war. There’s something disturbing about Kristen’s male counterpart getting excited about the gunfire and chaos, and later Cailee’s character’s clear infatuation with it. In the scene where Kristen approaches Cailee on the floating gazebo thing and she says I’ve never been more scared but I’ve also never felt more alive, I immediately thought she meant more conscious, more awake— not alive in a high adrenaline sense. But I was quickly proven wrong seeing the huge smile on her face and the excitement in her exchanges with the main man. Just like the movie itself, the characters stay apolitical, claiming that their job is to take photos so that the public can have an opinion. I can understand it to a degree, but at some point it makes them just as bad as their parents that they look down on for “pretending the war doesn’t exist” because they treat the war and atrocities as a game— a means to get the best, most intriguing shot. They learn to desensitize themselves to what they’re shooting just as the soldiers do. But it’s all tough because as long as there is war, there must be war journalists. Their work is profoundly important and also can be crucial to the outcome of the war due to public perception and overall understanding of the truth. Getting the information to the public is one thing, but it’s not that easy, is it? They all work for a news outlet and they will use their work in whatever way is convenient for them. So then, what has your work done but reinforce polarizing half truths? And when that’s all anyone is doing, how will anyone truly know?Â
Anyways, I don’t know if any of that made sense but overall I thought it was really good . I loved how the whole thing basically resembled a life cycle of sorts— Cailee photographing Kristen as she dies saving her and ultimately taking her place in the photojournalism world by getting likely the most relevant photo of the war thus far as the west forces kill the President.Â
Bonus random thoughts: I wish they cast someone different for the president because he’s a comedy actor and I see him as such. I absolutely love when actors that are typecast get the opportunity to do something else but that wasn’t this. The president was such a small role so he didn’t have the chance to prove himself capable of playing a serious character so it didn’t work for me. Also, the scene where those two other guys die and Cailee gets pushed into the ditch full of bodies was otherworldly. So dystopian and paralyzing.