2024-04-18
9 分钟The Economist Hi, John Priddo here.
I host Checks and Balance, our weekly US politics podcast.
Welcome to Editors' Picks.
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California and Texas, calling themselves the Western forces, have seceded from the Union.
Other states are following suit.
The President...
Installed for an unconstitutional third term,
vows that the uprising will be quashed quickly.
He harnesses the full strength of America's army and authorizes the use of drone strikes on civilians.
The Western forces march on, determined to take the White House.
Civil War arrives in cinemas on April 12th.
The film does not offer an explanation of how this fictional version of America descended into chaos.
Instead, it follows a group of journalists and immerses the viewer in the fog of war.
According to Alex Garland, the writer-director,
anyone who has followed American politics in recent years will know exactly what the fault lines and pressures are.
Perhaps he sees no need to point out the country's bitter polarization,
the loss of faith in the organs of government,
or the threat posed by a former president who thinks democratic norms are for other people.