Amid the hyperpolarized conditions of 2024, one may be forgiven for being skeptical about a film literally called Civil War. The title and premise suggest a fearmongering mess of a partisan fever dream, the cinematic equivalent of those bingo-card essays in glossy magazines assuring intelligent readers that this time it’s different while playing on their most banal fears and hatreds.
Luke Nathan Phillips is Publius Fellow for Public Discourse at Braver Angels. Opinions expressed in this piece are his own, and not the formal positions of Braver Angels.
