‘Civil War’ Trailer: Kirsten Dunst and Alex Garland Join Forces for Dystopian Action Thriller

Kirsten Dunst stars as a war photographer in Alex Garland’s near-future-set feature “Civil War,” imagining a not-so-distant America at war with itself.

“Priscilla” breakout Cailee Spaeny also appears in the dystopian action thriller whose logline portends a “race to the White House in a near-future America balanced on the razor’s edge.” Watch the first trailer below.

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Garland, whose last film was the horror allegory “Men” starring Jessie Buckley, writes and directs the politically charged thriller. Wagner Moura, Sonoya Mizuno, and Stephen McKinley Henderson also star. Nick Offerman, who appeared in Garland’s 2020 FX series “Devs” along with McKinley Henderson and Mizuno, plays the United States president as seen in the trailer. The first footage suggests this is Garland’s most expansive film yet, spanning the U.S. as it tears itself apart, with Dunst portraying a journalist.

Garland previously told The Daily Telegraph that “Civil War” is indeed connected to his last film “Men” and “set at an indeterminate point in the future — just far enough ahead for me to add a conceit — and serves as a sci-fi allegory for our currently polarized predicament.”

Longtime Sofia Coppola collaborator Dunst suggested “Civil War” co-star Spaeny to play the title character for Coppola’s “Priscilla” after working with the actress for the upcoming Garland film. “Kirsten’s amazing,” Spaeny told IndieWire at the “Priscilla” premiere. “She definitely put in a good word for me, which I don’t think hurt during the casting process,” later adding that Dunst “passed the torch” to her.

A24 distributes “Civil War,” marking Garland’s third film at the studio after the Oscar-winning “Ex Machina” and last year’s “Men.” He’s also the writer of the Danny Boyle films “The Beach,” “28 Days Later,” and “Sunshine” and eventually made his feature directing debut with “Ex Machina” in 2014.

“Civil War” premieres April 26, 2024 everywhere — including in IMAX. Check out the trailer below.

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