A new trailer for the upcoming A24 film Civil War was posted earlier today, leading to considerable debate online over creative choices and plot points appearing in the teaser as it's spread online.
The movie imagines an American civil war in the near future and sees Texas and California teaming up against the federal government.
In this land, anything is possible. Welcome to Alex Garland's CIVIL WAR. In theaters and @IMAX April 26. pic.twitter.com/5PG8bKGMaW
— A24 (@A24) December 13, 2023
As it's quickly racked up nearly 5 million views on Twitter / X alone so far, many posters online found the idea of ruby-red Texas and deeply blue California fighting against the rest of the country to be highly unlikely. Some joked about the strangeness of this plot point and the cultural differences between Texas and California, which are also often at odds with each other politically.
Others tried to read between the lines: By putting California and Texas together in a "Western Alliance," the film manages to tell a story about civil war without turning it into a Republicans vs. Democrats conflict.
The film is directed by Alex Garland, who notably wrote 28 Days Later and directed Ex Machina, and stars Jessie Plemmons and Nick Offerman, the latter of whom plays the President.
Alongside the jokes and memes reacting to the trailer, some online who worry about a real-life civil war actually happening here in the U.S. found the film struck a little too close to home.
According to the trailer, Texas and California seem to be winning the civil war, advancing on Washington, D.C. While it's obviously fiction, some posters online seemed to find that part of the film realistic — at least, the combined forces of Texifornia would be much too flavorful for the other states to overcome.
