Civil War ending explained: What does Alex Garland think?
A24Alex Garland’s Civil War sees America divided as journalists race to Washington DC before the conflict reaches its bloody finale — so, let’s break down the Civil War ending.
War… (huh!), what is it good for? In Civil War, Garland’s newest dystopian nightmare, the answer is easy: great photos. The film follows Lee Smith, a renowned war photographer who’s never far from conflict, working alongside Joel (Wagner Moura), a journalist from Florida.
With the war between the Western Forces (California and Texas — we know) and the loyalist states nearing its climax, Lee and Joel journey to the White House to interview the president (Nick Offerman). Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), an old-school reporter for The New York Times, tags along with Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), an aspiring photographer who idolizes Lee.
The Civil War release date has passed, so if you want to catch up on everything that happens by the end, we’ve got you covered.
Civil War ending explained
Civil War ends with the Western Forces executing the president. Joel asks him for his final quote, so he begs for mercy, but a soldier shoots him anyway, with Jessie photographing his death.
Ultimately, the cynical ending represents the film’s ideas about how civility can crumble, unethical journalism, and the lack of empathy during war.
The journey to DC and Sammy’s death
The group has a frightening encounter with two extremist soldiers (if you can even call them that — they’re just lunatics in camouflage clothing with rifles).
They manage to escape after Sammy hits them with the car, but he’s also shot as they’re fleeing, and he dies shortly after they arrive at the Western Forces’ camp in Charlottesville.
Soon, the WF sets off to take the White House, so Lee, Joel, and Jessie tag along as press with two other reporters. A violent, terrifying firefight ensues in the streets, and while Jessie has grown more fearless than ever, Lee is rattled by Sammy’s death and starts having a panic attack.
Joel keeps her low and ushers her from A to B as Jessie hops around with her camera, peeking over barricades to get the perfect shot.
Entering the White House
A24The Secret Service appears to make a desperate getaway with the president — but Lee knows it’s bait. Fortunately, it gives them a clear opening to walk into the White House uncontested, but WF troops aren’t far behind them.
Inside, a senior White House staffer — it’s not explained if she’s the head of the Secret Service, Chief of Staff, or another close associate of the president — says they’ll hand him over if they agree on terms that guarantee his safe passage to a neutral location.
Moments later, the WF soldiers shoot her and proceed to storm through the West Wing, killing everyone in their path.
Lee sacrifices herself for Jesse
As the WF and Secret Service exchange gunfire, Jessie steps into the middle of the hallway to get an incredible photograph. Realizing she’s about to be killed, Lee pushes her down and gets shot in the back, with Jessie capturing the bullet hitting her to the moment she collapses onto the ground.
This is a pivotal moment and delivers the film’s ideas about desensitization. Lee has watched Jesse start to become a mini-version of herself. As Jesse is traumatized and quickly losing her empathy for her subjects, Lee knows that path leads to guilt and the decay of one’s soul.
Lee sacrificing herself for Jesse could be a message about valuing human life. In a way, her death represents the loss of empathy.
In that moment, knowing Jesse would die, Lee breaks her own rule about never interfering. She decides that Jesse’s life is worth more than a photo of her death.
Despite the bond they’ve nurtured throughout the film, and Jesse’s idolization of her, Jesse makes the opposite choice. She chooses to capture Lee’s final moment on film instead of being emotionally present for it.
This may represent how in this fictional setting, dehumanization has become the norm, and the journalists are so seduced by their art that they have to experience everything through its lens.
Killing the President
A24Jessie and Joel follow the soldiers into the Oval Office, where they pull the president down onto the floor. Just as they’re about to kill him, Joel asks them to stop so he can get a quote. “Don’t let them kill me,” he tells Joel. “Yeah, that’ll do,” he replies before the WF soldier shoots him several times in the chest.
Jessie gets the final shot, with another photograph of WF troops smiling and posing over the president’s dead body developing over the credits.
Throughout the movie, Joel makes it sound like his journalistic drive is what’s motivating him. In reality, he didn’t want to question the President, learn anything, share important information… he just wanted a snappy sensationalist story for his benefit.
This is backed up by several moments in the movie where he’s enjoying the chaos. He alludes to being turned on by the sound of mortar fire, smiles during firefights, and encourages Jesse to get into the thick of danger.
What has Alex Garland said about Civil War’s ending?
Alex Garland hasn’t explained the Civil War ending, but he hopes it will start conversations outside the cinema.
“It was always that ending. You know, there [are] different sorts of films. And some films in a sense, and I don’t mean this is a bad way, but they’re almost designed so that you stop thinking about them as soon as the film is over,” he told Digital Spy.
“There is no judgment in that, that is completely fine. I like a lot of films like that. But others are designed to… It’s like you rang a bell, and you want the bell to keep ringing in someone’s head, so they’re remembering imagery or they’re remembering scenes or they’ve been puzzled about something and then they ask a friend: what did you make of that? Should it mean this? This is that sort of film. What I hope people will take from it is the sense of being in a conversation.”
In another interview with the BFI, Garland addressed the lack of explanation for Texas and California’s alliance. “My general position is that film is a broad church – a space for lots of different kinds of filmmaking,” he said.
“That’s the space I sit in. Other people want all questions clearly answered. And there are separate pews allocated in the church for those people. In fact, it turns out it’s almost every pew. I don’t feel any particular need to add to the number of films that spell everything out. There’s enough of them.”
Heavy stuff, but executed incredibly by Garland.
For more, you can read our breakdown of the Civil War soundtrack You can also find out the new movies streaming or the best movies of all time.