Civil War

The latest offering from A24 shows no hint of slowing down on the type of off-kilter, thoughtful cinema the studio is known for. The first half minute of the trailer focuses on atmospheric sounds amidst a dramatic dialogue, clearly establishing that a new civil war has broken out in what seems to be a near-future United States. Swirling strings and a muted siren presage the din of a panicked crowd, leading up to an audiovisual blackout at 0:27 with the diegetic click of a camera shutter—a strong indicator that a photojournalist features prominently in the film.

Following the A24 studio title card, another sound of the camera shutter and flash bulb lead us into a scene with a speech by the President of the United States, played by Nick Offerman. Notice how at 0:38 the president’s speech continues seamlessly, but the audio quality is degraded as we move to a shot of him on television. At 1:01, the floodlights turn on, synched to the sound of guns loading—which doesn’t quite make sense but seems passable in the context of modern trailer editing conventions (and the explosion that follows reinforces the idea).

A monologue is accompanied by a continuation of the previous score, focusing on ethereal, atmospheric sounds—it’s intentionally disorienting, never establishing a particular beat, and certainly never a key, chord, or melody. The soundtrack cuts out at 1:18, leaving a tense scene with the main characters at gunpoint, asked “what kind of American are you?” The only sound left in the soundtrack is the sound of a gun clicking. It’s a perverse transformation of a motif usually dominated by ticking (or perhaps clapping) sounds, and it retroactively justifies its use earlier when it was synched to the floodlights turning on.

At 1:33 the soundtrack returns, more raucous than ever—blaring synths and strings accompany epic percussion, played in the requisite triplet pattern. Notice one more synch between the gun clicks and on-screen action at 1:43 (“move, move, move!”).

While not necessarily played up in the trailer’s edit, the fact that both the camera clicks and the sound of a gun preparing to fire does suggest a kind of dichotomy. This is certainly reflected by the screen time the photojournalist gets. It suggests, through a simple but effective aural motif, a core dynamic in the film—whether and how news media figure into a United States devastated by civil war. Further, the soundtrack consistently reinforces an appropriately deep sense of instability.

Civil War arrives in theatres April 12th 2024.

— Curtis Perry