Director: Alex Garland
Four journalists race across a fractured United States in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are), Alex Garland's 2024 feature starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Cailee Spaeny. The 109-minute film imagines a near-future America split by armed conflict and follows the people trying to document it.
What is Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) about?
Veteran war photographer Lee, played by Kirsten Dunst, teams up with journalist Joel (Wagner Moura), veteran reporter Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and an ambitious young photographer, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), for a dangerous drive from New York to Washington, D.C. Their goal is to reach the capital before secessionist forces close in, hoping to secure one last interview with a president who has lost control of most of the country. Along the way, the group crosses front lines, checkpoints, and towns that have opted out of the conflict entirely, each stop forcing them to reckon with what their work is actually for. The journey tests Jessie's nerve and Lee's detachment in different ways as the lines between reporting and survival blur further with every mile.
Cast & crew
Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny anchor the film as two photographers a generation apart, while Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson play the reporters traveling alongside them. Nick Offerman appears as the sitting president, and Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, and Evan Lai round out the militia members, soldiers, and other figures the group encounters along the road.
Context & significance
Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) is a Finland-UK-US co-production directed by Alex Garland, known for tightly wound, near-future thrillers rather than overt political messaging. The film deliberately avoids naming the specific ideologies behind its factions, keeping the focus on the journalists' experience of a country in collapse rather than on any real-world party or platform, a choice Garland has discussed directly in interviews tied to the release.
Where & how to watch
Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) streams on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, giving viewers a choice of formats. The page itself is free to read for anyone; watching the film requires signing into a K-Time account, and the platform's interface is built around Farsi for Persian-speaking viewers wherever they're watching from.