‘Civil War’: Kirsten Dunst Calls Alex Garland An “Auteur” Even Though He “Hates The Word”: “I Love Working With People Like That”

Fresh off its SXSW world premiere, Alex Garland‘s “Civil War” hits theaters today, the latest film in an impressive filmography. So impressive, in fact, with films like “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation” among it, that one may ascertain to call Garland an auteur. Inside Total Film reports that’s exactly what “Civil War” actress Kirsten Dunst called the director, even though he “hates the word.”

READ MORE: ‘Civil War’ Review: Alex Garland’s Latest Is Both Unforgettable & Challenging As Hell [SXSW]

Dunst told the outlet that it was an easy decision to join the cast of Garland’s latest after being familiar with his work for so long. “It wasn’t only his movies, it was his writing. I’ve read scripts of his that he didn’t direct that I was like, ‘Wow.’ He’s just very, very, very brilliant and really makes films that are unique to anyone else,” said Dunst. “He hates the word ‘auteur’, but that’s what you call someone who has their canon of films that are unlike anyone else’s. I love to work with people like that, because I know their risk is to make something unique and do something different.”

And “Civil War” is certainly different than anything Garland has written and/or directed in his career so far: a dystopian drama set in a fractured near-future USA, following journalists as they head to Washington, D.C. to cover the possible end of a civil war. So, yes, a far cry from “The Beach,” Garland’s novel-turned-screenplay, his ghost-directed actioner “Dredd,” or his most recent thriller, “Men.”  

Dunst plays a seasoned photojournalist in “Civil War,” someone inured to the psychological cost of being close to armed conflict. And Garland found the actress’ experience crucial to playing the role well. “Because a lot of people have, in a way, grown up with her because she started so young when she was a child actor, we know she has a lot of lived experience, and that arrives with her into the film,” Garland said about why he cast Dunst in the film. “And there’s something else she does, which is she was playing a photographer, and I noticed something about her which is, she wears it lightly, but she’s very observant. She watches in a certain kind of way. And I felt that was like a photographer to be both in and not in the room at the same time.” 

Other cast members in “Civil War” include Wagner Moura, a journalist from Florida, and two Garland veterans: Cailee Spaeny and Stephen McKinley Harrison, who worked with the director on his TV show “Devs.” Other cast includes Nick Offerman, who plays an autocratic US president, Karl Glusman, and Jesse Plemons in a memorable cameo as an American soldier reveling in the chaos that’s engulfed his country.  

“Civil War” received solid reviews at SXSW, but it enters US theaters under a bevy of controversy, with some reviews balking at the film’s opacity, as well as A24‘s decision to release it during an election year. What’s Garland’s take on all this? In a new interview with IndieWire, the writer-director stressed he wants his film to spark debate. “My hope is that I make something which is compelling and engaging, but the product of that is some kind of conversation,” Garland explained. “I’m very wary of things that I feel would shut down the conversation. So it’s not that when people have conversations, there are assertions within it; there are statements within it, but you have to be careful about how you do that in a way, particularly in something which in some respects is one-sided because a film is just giving something and then the other part of the film, the receiver of the film, is made silent by that. And I’m trying to reduce that silence.”

And given the buzz surrounding “Civil War,” expect Garland’s latest film to get audiences worked up. Let’s see how word of mouth affects the film’s box office through its opening weekend (and spoiler alert: it already has; Variety reports that “Civil War” has already made $2.9 million from Thursday previews, an all-time best for A24.)