Since America is getting sick. Alex Garland has offered us a disturbing, brilliant and essential vaccintion for what ails us. Like a serum for snake bite made of venom itself, this film grabs us by...

Since America is getting sick. Alex Garland has offered us a disturbing, brilliant and essential vaccintion for what ails us. Like a serum for snake bite made of venom itself, this film grabs us by the shoulders andscreams “You got a civil war fantasy? Fine, I’ll put it on a 40 foot screen and dare you to cheer.” We have no idea why this war is being fought. Perhaps it is a just war. Perhaps it is a crazed cessationist rebellion. We aren’t afforded such information. It would only get in the way of the vital message-war is hell and be careful when you tell your fellow American to go to hell for thier political differences. What you end up with might be far darker and damning than you ever dreamed. The genius of this film rests partially in an absurd alliance between California and Texas, two of the most opposite states in the Union. By joining this ideological odd couple, the story immunizes itself against accusations of partisanship or cultural favortism. Yet it also beckons us to imagine what kind of national crisis could bring such opposites together.