kranti movie review and rating

'Kranti' movie review: Darshan delivers entertainment and a strong social message 

Darshan is a bonafide star whose fanbase only expands with every entertainer he delivers. With Kranti he states that revolutions are born of hope. Through the hero’s inner struggles, the film addresses the issues in the education system.

Albeit filled with abundant action for the masses Kranti has a universal message. With 12,000 government schools shut across Karnataka, resulting in about 75,000 jobless teachers, and over 20 lakh students affected, director Harikrishna uses this real-life situation to spin a story of a messiah redeeming people from hopelessness. He seems to have immense faith in Darshan’s star power that he has gone ahead with a simplistic film filled with regular ingredients like action, romance, music, and punch dialogues.

The story revolves around Kranti Narayan (Darshan), a business tycoon, residing in Europe for 20 years abiding by his father Bhargav Narayan’s (Ravichandran) instruction. Being an alumnus of a government school, he is invited by his favourite teacher (B Suresha) to attend the Centenary celebrations of the school. This event changes his life forever and he begins a revolution in the educational system. He takes the fight on with MNCs trying to take over the government schools, and does his effort bear fruits in the end? Tells the climax. 

Darshan's first collaboration with Harikrishna, Yajamana, was based on a village and its fight to keep an oil company at bay, and Kranti yet again is packed with mass entertainment along with a social message. And when the subject is about education, dramatic sequences of the plight of teachers, students, hungry media, corporate builders, and politicians among many other elements come to the fore as common occurrences, and Kranti does not disengage with any of them.

Harikrishna, who has roped in a mass hero to speak about an important issue like education, seem to be unbothered by the film’s duration. Certain sequences set in a train during the first half feel rudderless,  but the events in the second half add a lot of value to the overall output.

The anchor of the story is clearly Darshan’s screen presence and stardom. Harikrishna often says, "Never underestimate the credibility of a star." and he has mounted his film based on this hope. Apart from the usual fights and songs, Darshan delivers impactful messages in Kranti. 

Ravichandran delivers a memorable performance. Tarun Arora is definitely a new addition to the list of stylish villains. The rest of the actors including Ravi Shankar,  Girija Lokesh, Umashree, Sumalatha, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Samyuktha Hornad, Vainidhi Jagadish, and Dharmanna Kadur add value to the film. Rachita Ram is seen in an adequate role, and as a typical commercial heroine appears in two songs.

Harikrishna, who is also the composer of the film, elevates the emotions with his background score. The songs Don't Mess With Him and  Dharani are already ruling the playlists, Pushpavathi by Nimika Rathnakar and Bombe featuring a shirtless Darshan are celebration-worthy for the fans. 

Cinematographer Karunakar scores with his visual pattern and angles. To sum up, Kranti, which comes with rich production value, is ably shouldered by Darshan. Aside from the usual masala, the audiences have a revolutionary message about education to take home while leaving the theatres. 

Director: V Harikrishna Cast: Darshan, Rachita Ram, Ravichandran, Ravishankar,  Tarun Raj  Arora, Samyuktha Hornad, Vainidhi Jagadish, Mukhyamantri Chandru, and Umashree Rating: 3/5

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Kranti (2023) Review: Empowers Dwindling Education System

Kranti (2023) Review: With the implementation of the New National Education Policy in 2019, Karnataka claims to be the first government not to waste time and prove that they will turn every stone to assure a better future for students. When education becomes more of a business than an endeavor to enlighten ignorant minds, Kranti suggests a required revolution.

A subject that might look outdated but relevant given that the situation is growing worse, especially in Karnataka. In comparison to the number of government schools under consideration for privatization, according to the film, the Karnataka government has permanently closed 13,800 government schools due to low attendance, according to a report published in July 2022.

If reality matches the fiction, the movie is here to create a definite revolution. V. Harikrishna effectively addresses this delicate issue with his stellar star cast. In every frame, Kranti Rayanna (Darshan Thoogudeepa) enthuses fear, admiration, and passion for education. Usha (Rachita Ram), the topper, reminds us of the studious girl who needs to be empowered in our society.

Yet again, we have the male as a savior. But let’s forgive that for the time being, as he isn’t saving a damsel in distress this time. Kranti has achieved much as an NRI businessman, and according to what is presented to us, he is on the way to education world domination.

His master Srikantaiah (B. Suresha), has invited him back home for the centennial celebration of the government school where he studied. When he returns, he witnesses the injustice done to students and teachers by Salatri (Tarun Arora). Salatri sketches a plan to privatize 12,000 government schools along with corrupt education minister Vaman Rao (Sampath Raj) and Narasappa (P. Ravi Shankar), the thug. Kranti, with his swag, however, foils their plans.

Kranti fought the bad blood and took control of the private schools, closing them and causing even more trouble. However, while devious, his methods are intended to awaken the government to its responsibilities. Kranti just doesn’t revolutionize education but the government of the time. Kranti is a likable and desirable character. At the same time, the repentance of Vaman Rao towards the end looked a bit too quick.

Narasappa learns a lesson only when his bones are broken. Kranti showcases his august personality in all of the action sequences in which he is unmoved by the tension. He delivers every shot with finesse and confidence. You are just left to notice bodies flipping, bodies springing onto the floor, bodies shuddering at a step he takes toward them. He is an unmoved mover, a savior that the country’s education system truly deserves. Will NEP 2019 come to the rescue? NEP 2019 is fighting its demons, and neither the country’s infrastructure nor its capital resources can save the situation.

One thought that Kranti makes crystal clear is that a ‘teacher is the creator, preserver, destroyer of ignorance, ultimate truth and that we must all bow to all the teachers across the world.’ The movie leaves us with this thought to ponder. It also leaves us with the promise that the government will renovate the public schools.

Hoping that the fiction turns into reality, at least in this case. V Harikrishna treads a difficult path dabbling with a sensitive issue in the state and the country. He trips with his songs which show a lazy choreography displaying the macho body of Kranti, except for Pushpavati, which isn’t just an attractive number but showcases great talent like Nimita Ratnakar.

Kranti Rayanna is in charge of moving this film forward, and his supporting actors, ranging from his grandparents to his father to his aide, help him out. They add comedy and seriousness to the plot. Although the action bits proved the magnanimity of Kranti, the villains were short of power. They couldn’t match up to overpowering Kranti, not even once. That was a bit put off. Because right after the first fight scene, you are certain that Kranti will surely win in the scenes to come. How long shall I suspend my disbelief?

The cameraman captures every blow and flips that Kranti offers his opponents. From the falling of the marvels to the falling of the sweat, the camera catches it all to give us a visual and sensory feel. The director could offer more challenging conflicts to twist and turn the plot. Salatri could polish his foreign language instead of an adopted version.

Kranti, nevertheless, drives home the point that education is a necessity, and it is the duty of the government to offer it free for everyone in the country and not allow it to turn into a business.

Related to Kranti (2023): The 30 Best Indian Movies of 2022

Kranti (2023) links: imdb , wikipedia kranti (2023) cast: darshan thoogudeep, rachita ram, v. ravichandran, where to watch kranti, trending right now.

He has an MA English Literature and Language Degree from Parvatibai Chowgule College, Margao, Goa. He comments on art, technology, ethics, literature, and movies

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Kranti Movie Review: Darshan delivers entertainment and a strong social message 

Rating: ( 3 / 5).

Darshan is a bonafide star whose fanbase only expands with every entertainer he delivers. With Kranti he states that revolutions are born of hope. Through the hero’s inner struggles, the film addresses the issues in the education system.

Albeit filled with abundant action for the masses Kranti has a universal message. With 12,000 government schools shut across Karnataka, resulting in about 75,000 jobless teachers, and over 20 lakh students affected, director Harikrishna uses this real-life situation to spin a story of a messiah redeeming people from hopelessness. He seems to have immense faith in Darshan’s star power that he has gone ahead with a simplistic film filled with regular ingredients like action, romance, music, and punch dialogues.

Cast: Darshan, Rachita Ram, Ravichandran, Ravishankar, Tarun Raj  Arora, Samyuktha Hornad, Vainidhi Jagadish, Mukhyamantri Chandru, and Umashree Director: V Harikrishna The story revolves around Kranti Narayan (Darshan), a business tycoon, residing in Europe for 20 years abiding by his father Bhargav Narayan’s (Ravichandran) instruction. Being an alumnus of a government school, he is invited by his favourite teacher (B Suresha) to attend the Centenary celebrations of the school. This event changes his life forever and he begins a revolution in the educational system. He takes the fight on with MNCs trying to take over the government schools, and does his effort bear fruits in the end? Tells the climax. 

Darshan's first collaboration with Harikrishna, Yajamana , was based on a village and its fight to keep an oil company at bay, and Kranti yet again is packed with mass entertainment along with a social message. And when the subject is about education, dramatic sequences of the plight of teachers, students, hungry media, corporate builders, and politicians among many other elements come to the fore as common occurrences, and Kranti does not disengage with any of them.

Harikrishna, who has roped in a mass hero to speak about an important issue like education, seem to be unbothered by the film’s duration. Though the certain sequences set in foreign are made well, the ones in the train in the first half feels rudderless. However, the events in the second half add a lot of value to the overall output.

The anchor of the story is clearly Darshan’s screen presence and stardom. Harikrishna often says, "Never underestimate the credibility of a star." and he has mounted his film based on this hope. Apart from the usual fights and songs, Darshan delivers impactful messages in Kranti . 

Ravichandran delivers a memorable performance. Tarun Arora is definitely a new addition to the list of stylish villains. The rest of the actors including Ravi Shankar,  Girija Lokesh, Umashree, Sumalatha, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Samyuktha Hornad, Vainidhi Jagadish, and Dharmanna Kadur add value to the film. Rachita Ram is seen in an adequate role, and as a typical commercial heroine appears in two songs.

Harikrishna, who is also the composer of the film, elevates the emotions with his background score. The songs Don't Mess With Him and   Dharani are already ruling the playlists, Pushpavathi by Nimika Rathnakar and Bombe featuring a shirtless Darshan are celebration-worthy for the fans. 

Cinematographer Karunakar scores with his visual pattern and angles. To sum up, Kranti , which comes with rich production value, is ably shouldered by Darshan. Aside from the usual masala, the audiences have a revolutionary message about education to take home while leaving the theatres.   

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• Home » Movies » Kranti Kannada Movie Review

Kranti review: Darshan’s entertaining onscreen revolution echoes plight of government schools

The Challenging Star delivers yet another typical over-the-top commercial action-drama but with education at its epicentre.

Published:Jan 26, 2023

Darshan's 'Kranti' movie poster. (Supplied)

A treat for fans!

Kranti (Kannada)

• Cast: Darshan, V Ravichandran, Rachita Ram, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Umasri, Sumalatha Ambareesh, Samyukta Hornad, Tarun Arora, Sampath Raj, Achyuth Kumar, Sadhu Kokila, and Ravi Shankar
• Director: V Harikrishna
• Producers: Shylaja Nag and B Suresha
• Music: V Harikrishna
• Runtime: 2 hours 43 minutes
• Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, and Revathy
• Director: Maneesh Sharma
• Producer: Aditya Chopra
• Music: Pritam Chakraborty
• Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes

The film Kranti hits two targets in one shot — the entertainment and educational systems, especially the plight of government schools.

Plus, it has all the elements required to make it commercially viable, something which also satisfies Darshan’s die-hard fans.

Music composer-director V Harikrishna penned the story and dialogues besides handling music and direction. He has dished out a well-balanced action-drama backed by a sensible subject that is at least good as a one-time watch for the audience.

The story is simple and revolves around Kranti Rayanna (Darshan), the son of a wealthy, respected man played by V Ravichandran.

Kranti does his schooling in a government school where he learned the best lessons in life through his beloved teacher.

However, he is sent abroad for a reason and Kranti ends up becoming a very successful businessman.

This plot allows the director to fulfil another essential element of the commercial venture which is to shoot in foreign locations.

Kranti returns to India to be a part of his government school’s centenary celebrations and the drama unfolds for almost three hours.

Senior actors and the bad guys are just the necessary part of the film while it is Darshan’s show all along until it hits the climax.

Ticks all boxes

Challenging Star Darshan. (Supplied)

As the saying goes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, the film makes sure to present the most important issue of privatisation of education and how it’s affecting society through the charismatic onscreen presence of Darshan.

The director serves the “usuals”, too, including half-a-dozen fights where Darshan alone defeats no less than 50 to 100 men.

Other necessary elements such as the introduction scene, fights, romantic number, a short and cute love interest, a pinch of comedy, father-son sentiment, and a special number are among the long list of boxes that the makers have ticked for a paisa-vasool movie.

A feast for Darshan’s fans

The aforementioned aspects hold good only for Darshan fans and those who watch movies for timepass and do not mind a lesson or two on some issues.

Well, this implies that Kranti is not for serious minds.

A poster of Darshan’s ‘Kranti’. (Supplied)

Kranti also provides ample opportunity for the Challenging Star to take a dig at his real-life opponents and competitors through cleverly written dialogues that carry a punch.

It’s a must for Darshan’s fans. But for others, the film is a regular commercial movie with some lessons on the educational system.

There’s nothing extraordinary about the film, yet it is not so ordinary either. If it still doesn’t interest some of you, then wait for the OTT release.

(Views expressed are personal.)

Tags:  

• Entertainment
• film review
• Kannada films
• Movie review

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Kranti Reviews

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• Dharani Singers: Santhosh Venky , Aniruddha Sastry , Pancham Jeeva Lyricist: V. Nagendra Prasad 4.5
• Bombe Song Singers: Sonu Nigam Lyricist: Yogaraj Bhat 4.5
• Pushpavathi Singers: V Harikrishna , Aishwarya Rangarajan Lyricist: Yogaraj Bhat 4

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Kranti

In this Kranti film, Darshan , Rachita Ram played the primary leads.

The Kranti was released in theaters on 26 Jan 2023.

The Kranti was directed by V Harikrishna

Movies like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B , Kerebete , Max and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The Kranti had a runtime of 163 minutes.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by V Harikrishna for the movie Kranti.

The cinematography for Kranti was shot by Karunakar A .

You can watch the Kranti movie on Amazon Prime Video,.

On 23 Feb 2023 Kranti was released on the Amazon Prime Video, platform.

The movie Kranti belonged to the Action,Drama, genre.

Kranti User Review

• Movie rating

Pavan 443 Days Ago

Darshan should stop doing films for friends. He should know what fans expect from him. V Harikrishnas songs are good but direction is not upto the mark. nothing new in story same old format he choosed. even though movie will be boxoffice hit but th..

suresh 443 Days Ago

action, dialogues, songs, sentiment and message are the highlights in Kranti. Darshan as usual steals the show. everyone are acted well. rachita rams glamour added more weightage to the film. Pushpavathi song blasted in theaters

Subash 443 Days Ago

Kranti movie is feast to DBoss fans. just celebrate it on big screen. dont ask reviews anywhere just book the tickets and enjoy the film. everything is perfect. Naavu yaaru antha yavanigu prove madabekagilla

Nagesh 443 Days Ago

Watched kranti, routine story with little social message in the end. nothing new in all aspects. after roberrt Dboss should have choosed good script and with young team. this one is outdated.

Kranti 911 Days Ago

Osm movie of darshan

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Kranti: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 26 January 2023
• Language Kannada
• Genre Action, Drama
• Duration 2h 43min
• Cast Darshan, Rachita Ram, Ravichandran, Sumalatha, Tarun Arora, Sampath Raj, P. Ravi Shankar, Achyuth Kumar, Nimika Rathnakar, B. Suresha, Sadhu Kokila
• Director V. Harikrishna
• Writer V. Harikrishna
• Cinematography Karunakar
• Music V. Harikrishna
• Producer Shylaja Nag, B. Suresha
• Production Media House Studio
• Certificate U/A

About Kranti Movie (2023)

When anti-social elements try to demolish a government school, an NRI businessman reaches his hometown to save it.

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Release Date : March 03, 2023

123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5

Starring: Rakendu Mouli, Inaya Sultana, Sravani Shetty, Yamuna Srinidhi, Karthik, Bhavani Chowdhary

Director: Bhima Shankar

Producers: Bhargav Manne

Music Director: Gyaan Singh

Cinematography: Kishore Boyadipu

Editor: KCB Hari

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A small film named Kranthi featuring Rakendu Mouli and Biggboss fame Inaya Sultana in the lead roles was released directly on Aha. It is directed by Bhima Shankar. Let’s see how the film is.

Ram (Rakendu Mouli), a Police aspirant, and Sandhya (Inaya Sultana) share a long-time relationship. Sandhya urges Ram to talk to her father about their love matter so they can marry and live happily thereafter. The very next day, Sandhya gets murdered in a mysterious manner which shocks Ram. He soon goes into depression mode. Almost a year after Sandhya’s death, Ramya (Sravani Shetty), who treats Ram as her brother, goes missing. Ram soon returns to normalcy and starts his search for Ramya. During this, he gets to know some startling details. What happened to Ramya? What are those details which surprised Ram? Did Ram save Ramya? The film has the answers.

Plus Points:

Women’s safety has been one of the most worrisome things in India, and the public is aware of the brutal incidents that happened to women in the past few years. Kranthi deals with this burning issue. Dialogues pertaining to this aspect are nicely written. Though the act of gathering women themselves to fight on their issues resembles that of Mahesh Babu’s Spyder, the climax portions and scenes in this regard make up for it.

The protagonist Rakendu Mouli who is a bundle of talent excels in the role of Ram. As a person who undergoes despair over his girlfriend’s death, Ram gives a good performance. He tried to carry the film on his shoulders. The leading lady Inaya Sultana though seen for a brief period, is fine in her role. She does exactly what is required out of her character.

Sravani Shetty and Yamuna Srinidhi are decent in their respective roles. Other artists did a passable job. In addition, the film’s length is just about 90 minutes which becomes one more key advantage.

Minus Points:

It is not sufficient when the point taken is good, but it needs to be told in an interesting manner so that the message intended delivers to the target audience in the right manner. Unfortunately, this is the problem with Kranthi. The gripping narration is absent, and the film moves at a snail’s pace for the most part.

The monologue conversations, weird camera angles, and lack of exciting scenes hinder the impact. There are many redundant scenes that could have been taken care of. The thrill factor that is needed for a film of this sort is heavily missing.

Like the dialogue in the movie, the makers got influenced by a few mystery crime thriller films, and hence there is a similitude between those films and Kranthi. The editing is below par, as a few scenes don’t have a proper connection. A few portions went over the top.

Technical Aspects:

Gyaan Singh’s music is alright. The cinematography by Kishore Boyadipu is okay. The production values are decent. The editing team could have done a better job, though.

Coming to the director, Bhima Shankar, he did a below-par job with the film. His intention to make a film about women’s safety is nice, but more effort was required in coming up with an arresting screenplay. He extracted good performances from the artists, though.

On the whole, Kranthi has a relevant point, but it isn’t presented in a great manner. Rakendu Mouli does well, and the pre-climax to climax portions are Kranthi’s advantages. The bland execution and slow pacing are the key issues with this crime thriller. The film ends up just an okay watch this weekend for the message it carries.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

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Kranti Movie Review & Ratings | Hit or Flop?

Kranti Review : Dashan was most recently seen in the film Robert, which was criticised for its poor financial performance at the box office but lauded for the technical perfection of its production. Now, he’s back with a brand-new action drama film titled “Kranti,” which was released not too long ago. The songs have generated a great deal of buzz around the upcoming film, and when the teaser trailer was released, it got people even more enthusiastic. But the movie has only just been released today, so let’s not waste any time and dive right into the review to find out if it’s worth seeing.

Despite the fact that his father owns several schools, Kranti (Darshan) is a carefree guy. However, he is powerless when a politician takes over his father’s schools. After a long absence, he reappears as a wealthy individual who embarks on a career in the education sector with the intention of liberating his father’s schools from the control of politicians. Will Kranti, in the end, acquire control of the educational institutions? The audience needs to be shown in the movie how he got to be so wealthy.

Cast & Crew

Darshan, Rachitha Ram, Dr. V Ravichandran & Sumalatha, and others star in this movie, which was directed by V Harikrishna and filmed by Karunakar. Other cast members include: Dr. V Ravichandran & Sumalatha. A, V Harikrishna was the one who wrote the film’s score, and Shylaja Nag and B Suresha, working under the aegis of Media House Studio, were the ones who produced the movie.

Movie Verdict

Our tough star Darshan’s film Kranti did a good job of integrating educational backdrop films with a commercial feature, which is a difficult task that is not new for an Indian audience but is accomplished fairly effectively in this film. The movie begins in the same manner as a typical commercial film, with a hero making his entrance and establishing his character. The first half of the movie follows a templet-based screenplay with songs; these scenes include a love track, comedic moments, and conflict with the antagonist. There are also a few dialogues about education.

The real story starts in the second half, when we learn about Kranti’s past and how it relates to schools. This keeps us interested in the story for a while. The second half also has some interesting parts about education, but too many commercials make us feel bored.

Darshan as Kranti performs an adequate job, as this character doesn’t stretch him at all, but he entertains with his swag. Rachitha Ram also does little to distinguish herself in her role, but she manages to win over a small percentage of viewers with her bubbly performance.

V Harikrishna is in charge of directing the movie. He gives it an interesting setting but doesn’t do a great job of showing it because he mostly focused on Darshan instead of the story. Some of his writing is good, though, and the conversations about education make us think. Technically, Kranti looks good. Karunakar A’s Visuals made it look even better, and V. Harikrishna himself scored the music. His songs aren’t great, but he liked the background score. The rest of the technical team did their best to tell the story.

Kranti is, all things considered, a respectable commercial film that is suitable for viewing by a select group of moviegoers.

Plus Points:

• Background Score
• Few Dialogues

Minus Points:

• Cinematography
• Performances
• Predictable screenplay

Rating: 3/5

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Kranti Movie Review & Ratings | Hit or Flop?

Kranti Review: Challenging star Dashan was last seen in Roberrt, though it didn’t do well but praised for the technical brilliance, However, he is back with an action drama film called ‘Kranti’. The film has created a lot of buzz with the songs and once the trailer was released it raised expectations. However, the film has finally been released today, so without wasting much time let’s delve into the in-depth review and find out whether the film is worth watching or not.

Kranti(Darshan) is a carefree guy though his father has many schools and he is helpless when a politician takes over his father’s schools. After a long gap, he is back as a rich guy who enters the education field to take over his father’s schools from the politicians. Finally, will Kranti take over the schools? how did he become rich needs to be seen in the film.

Cast & Crew

Darshan, Rachitha Ram, Dr. V Ravichandran & Sumalatha, and others, and the film is directed by V Harikrishna, while the cinematography has done by Karunakar. A, music has been composed by V Harikrishna and the film is produced by Shylaja Nag & B Suresha under the banner of Media House Studio.

Movie Verdict

Education backdrop films are not new for an Indian audience but blending them into the commercial film is a big challenge and our challenging star Darshan’s film Kranti made it quite well. The film starts off like a regular commercial film with a heroic introduction and his character establishment, the first half follows a templet-based screenplay with songs, here love track, comedy, and conflict with the villain ends a few dialogues about education.

The second half is where the actual story begins like Kranti’s back story and what was the connection with schools that makes us invested in the story for a while and second half has few elements about education which are quite interesting but too many commercials elements make us feel bored throughout the film.

Darshan as Kranti does a fair job as this role doesn’t challenge him at all but he entertained with his swag, Rachitha Ram did a passable job with her role and did nothing much to perform but she engages few sections of the audience with her bubbliness, V. Ravichandran showed his experience though his role is limited, Sumalatha does a fair job and rest of the cast did well.

V Harikrishna directs the film, he chooses an interesting backdrop but partly succeeds in presenting the film, as he mostly focused on Darshan rather than the story, however, his writing is good in parts, and dialogues about education make us think.

Technically, Kranti looks good, Karunakar A’s Visuals made it look even richer and V. Harikrishna himself scored the music, his songs are not up to the mark but he was impressed with the background score, and the rest of the technical team did their best as per the story requires.

Plus Points:

• Background Score
• Few Dialogues

Minus Points:

• Cinematography
• Performances
• Predictable screenplay

Rating: 3/5

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Bhargav Reddy

I am a passionate content writer and critic with extensive experience in the entertainment industry. I write reviews, opinion pieces, feature stories, and interviews for way2ott.com. With a Bachelor's degree in Media Studies from IIT Bombay, I have the knowledge to analyze media texts critically and provide insightful commentary on film, television series, web series' etc.

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Movie Reviews

'civil war' is a doomsday thought experiment — that could have used more thinking.

Justin Chang

Kirsten Dunst plays a battle scarred photojournalist in Civil War. Murray Close/A24 hide caption

Kirsten Dunst plays a battle scarred photojournalist in Civil War.

Releasing a movie called Civil War in this election year is certainly one way to grab headlines. Surprisingly, though, Alex Garland 's ambitious new thriller largely sidesteps the politics of the present moment.

It wants to sound a queasy note of alarm, as if the democracy doomsday scenario it's showing us could really happen, but it's hard to buy into a premise that feels this thinly sketched. The story takes place in a not-so-distant future where Texas and California have improbably joined forces and seceded from the U.S.

Florida, not to be outdone, has also broken away on its own. The president, a third-term tyrant played by Nick Offerman , has responded by calling in the troops and launching airstrikes on his fellow Americans, plunging the country into poverty and lawlessness.

Garland keeps a lot of the details vague; he's less interested in how we might have gotten here than in how we would respond. To that end, he focuses on characters whose job it is to document what's happening.

Kirsten Dunst gives a strong, tough-minded performance as Lee, a skilled photojournalist who's covered conflicts all over the world and is now confronting this nightmare on her home turf. She's headed from New York to Washington, D.C., where many expect that the war, which has been raging for some time, will end with a showdown at the White House.

Accompanying Lee on this dangerous journey are two seasoned colleagues: Joel, a wily reporter played by Wagner Moura from Narcos , and Sammy, a veteran political writer played by the always outstanding Stephen McKinley Henderson.

The America in Civil War looks both familiar and unfamiliar. A24 hide caption

The America in Civil War looks both familiar and unfamiliar.

Per movie convention, there's also an inexperienced young outsider: Jessie, an aspiring war photographer played by Cailee Spaeny, the star of last year's biopic Priscilla . Not long into their trip, the four journalists stumble on a tense scene at a gas station where three armed men are holding two other men captive. The journalists get away without incident, but Jessie was deeply disturbed by what what was happening, started second guessing herself and didn't get the shot.

In time, Jessie gets better at her job; more than that, she becomes hooked. The movie is partly about the addictive thrill of thrusting a camera into a war zone. But it's also about the trauma and desensitization that these photographers experience as they put their emotions aside and do everything they can to get that perfect shot.

Here are 6 movies to see this spring

Civil War itself has been quite strikingly visualized by the cinematographer Rob Hardy and the production designer Caty Maxey. They show us an America that looks both familiar and unfamiliar, resembling the battlefields we've seen in footage from other conflicts in other places. There are surreally grim images of bloodstained sidewalks, bombed-out buildings, and a once-busy highway where rows of abandoned cars stretch for miles and miles. Garland has a real feel for post-apocalyptic landscapes, as we saw in his script for the zombie thriller 28 Days Later . In the movies he's directed since, like the brilliant Annihilation , he's shown a real talent for building suspense and anxiety.

A Masterful Glimpse Of Humanity's Physical — And Emotional — 'Annihilation'

But as stunningly detailed as Civil War 's dystopia is, from moment to moment, I hardly believed a thing I was seeing. As Lee and her pals inch closer to D.C., they go from one violent set-piece to another, each one calculated for maximum terror.

There's a nasty ambush at a Christmas theme-park display in the middle of nowhere, followed by a chilling encounter with a gun-toting racist psychopath played, in a mordant touch, by Jesse Plemons, Dunst's off-screen husband. The result is more of a button-pushing genre exercise than a serious reckoning with the consequences of the movie's premise. By the time the characters arrive at their destination, just in time for a daring raid on the White House, Civil War feels ever more like an empty stunt — a thought experiment that hasn't been especially well thought out.

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Dunst: expressing something blue in melancholia.

If there's one thing that keeps you watching, though, it's Dunst's performance as a battle-scarred professional doing her job under horrific circumstances that she's too numb to feel horrified by. As she showed in her great performance in Lars von Trier 's Melancholia , there's something about Dunst that's particularly well suited to apocalyptic material. I wish her better vehicles than Civil War in the future, but it's gratifying to see her anchor a major movie regardless. She's an actor I'd follow to the end of the world and back.

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‘civil war’ review: a torturous, overrated movie without a point.

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Running time: 109 minutes. Rated R (strong violent content, bloody/disturbing images and language throughout). In theaters.

All director Alex Garland had to do was title his new movie “Civil War” for it to instantly be deemed Very Important by tastemakers.

Who cares that the script is lousy? Or that the acting is monotonous? Or that the story amounts to a series of gruesome killings that you’d rather not sit through?

Doesn’t matter. It’s essential!

The gnarly film is about a modern-day domestic war in America and is, therefore, a prescient warning to us all, we’ve already been told with conspicuous enthusiasm by lefty newspaper op-eds.

They insist: You, too, could soon be tied up at a roadside gas station and tortured by dudes with Southern drawls.

But really Garland’s movie is no more vital to the discourse than “ The Purge ,” and is about 1% as entertaining.

“Civil War’s” shtick is that it’s not specifically political.

For instance, as the US devolves into enemy groups of secessionist states, Texas and California have banded together to form the Western Forces. That such an alliance could ever occur is about as likely as Sweetgreen/Kentucky Fried Chicken combo restaurant.

Still, one deadly encounter with a soldier played by Jesse Plemons leaves no doubts about what actual party he is supposed to represent.

The Western Forces are duking it out with the loyalist states who follow the president (Nick Offerman) — a fascist in an illegal third term — as well as the Florida Alliance and the New People’s Army.

Lest you arrive expecting cool battles, the fights are mostly just three or four guys shooting three or four other guys until a slightly bigger clash at the end. All we get are tiny tussles in a war supposedly affecting 350 million people.

Garland, with his incessant vagueness, is clearly aiming to keep the story universal rather than divisive. 

However, considering his movie is set in a land of folks who love to discuss and argue about the news, it’s odd that none of the characters ever give concrete details about what’s going on. How did this conflict start? What does anybody stand for? Who knows?

Avoiding the elephant (and donkey) in the room makes the whole shebang feel fake, with the help of some lethargic actors.

Our guides through this not-believable hellscape are a quartet of unlikable war journalists whose lives we barely learn about beyond their resumes. 

Kirsten Dunst plays Lee Smith , a hardened frontline photographer for Reuters who’s become numbed to violence and danger over the years.

Joel (Wagner Moura) is her reporter sidekick, who gets a thrill out of the battlefield … until he doesn’t. Moura’s performance, by the way, leads me to believe his numbskull journo couldn’t convince a telemarketer to talk to him.

Stephen McKinley Henderson is an aging New York Times writer named Sammy, who’s just about had enough. And Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) is a young, aspiring fotog who worships Smith and tags along for the ride. 

They embark on a road trip from New York City — which is being bombed — to Washington, DC, in an attempt to interview the press-hating president who is hiding out in the White House.

The plot plods along — they drive a bit, guy gets shot, they drive some more, guy gets shot — and the dialogue is bottom of the barrel.

At one point, Joel walks into a clothing store in an eerily calm small town and says, “Are you guys aware that there’s a pretty big civil war going on all across America?” 

This is what the New York Times called “a terrifying premonition of American collapse”!

Dunst is the best of the four performers , but a bitter, been-there-done-that reporter is such an old cliche. She adds nothing new to the archetype except her name.

A movie about a fictional second civil war isn’t a terrible idea, I’ll grant.

But how about instead of torturing viewers with a parade of point-blank executions, Garland tries making a well-executed film?

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‘Civil War’ Review: We Have Met the Enemy and It Is Us. Again.

In Alex Garland’s tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself.

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‘Civil War’ | Anatomy of a Scene

The writer and director alex garland narrates a sequence from his film..

“My name is Alex Garland and I’m the writer director of ‘Civil War’. So this particular clip is roughly around the halfway point of the movie and it’s these four journalists and they’re trying to get, in a very circuitous route, from New York to DC, and encountering various obstacles on the way. And this is one of those obstacles. What they find themselves stuck in is a battle between two snipers. And they are close to one of the snipers and the other sniper is somewhere unseen, but presumably in a large house that sits over a field and a hill. It’s a surrealist exchange and it’s surrounded by some very surrealist imagery, which is they’re, in broad daylight in broad sunshine, there’s no indication that we’re anywhere near winter in the filming. In fact, you can kind of tell it’s summer. But they’re surrounded by Christmas decorations. And in some ways, the Christmas decorations speak of a country, which is in disrepair, however silly it sounds. If you haven’t put away your Christmas decorations, clearly something isn’t going right.” “What’s going on?” “Someone in that house, they’re stuck. We’re stuck.” “And there’s a bit of imagery. It felt like it hit the right note. But the interesting thing about that imagery was that it was not production designed. We didn’t create it. We actually literally found it. We were driving along and we saw all of these Christmas decorations, basically exactly as they are in the film. They were about 100 yards away, just piled up by the side of the road. And it turned out, it was a guy who’d put on a winter wonderland festival. People had not dug his winter wonderland festival, and he’d gone bankrupt. And he had decided just to leave everything just strewn around on a farmer’s field, who was then absolutely furious. So in a way, there’s a loose parallel, which is the same implication that exists within the film exists within real life.” “You don’t understand a word I say. Yo. What’s over there in that house?” “Someone shooting.” “It’s to do with the fact that when things get extreme, the reasons why things got extreme no longer become relevant and the knife edge of the problem is all that really remains relevant. So it doesn’t actually matter, as it were, in this context, what side they’re fighting for or what the other person’s fighting for. It’s just reduced to a survival.”

By Manohla Dargis

A blunt, gut-twisting work of speculative fiction, “Civil War” opens with the United States at war with itself — literally, not just rhetorically. In Washington, D.C., the president is holed up in the White House; in a spookily depopulated New York, desperate people wait for water rations. It’s the near-future, and rooftop snipers, suicide bombers and wild-eyed randos are in the fight while an opposition faction with a two-star flag called the Western Forces, comprising Texas and California — as I said, this is speculative fiction — is leading the charge against what remains of the federal government. If you’re feeling triggered, you aren’t alone.

It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping. Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6. As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone? If that sounds harrowing, you’re right. It’s one thing when a movie taps into childish fears with monsters under the bed; you’re eager to see what happens because you know how it will end (until the sequel). Adult fears are another matter.

In “Civil War,” the British filmmaker Alex Garland explores the unbearable if not the unthinkable, something he likes to do. A pop cultural savant, he made a splashy zeitgeist-ready debut with his 1996 best seller “The Beach,” a novel about a paradise that proves deadly, an evergreen metaphor for life and the basis for a silly film . That things in the world are not what they seem, and are often far worse, is a theme that Garland has continued pursuing in other dark fantasies, first as a screenwriter (“ 28 Days Later ”), and then as a writer-director (“ Ex Machina ”). His résumé is populated with zombies, clones and aliens, though reliably it is his outwardly ordinary characters you need to keep a closer watch on.

By the time “Civil War” opens, the fight has been raging for an undisclosed period yet long enough to have hollowed out cities and people’s faces alike. It’s unclear as to why the war started or who fired the first shot. Garland does scatter some hints; in one ugly scene, a militia type played by a jolting, scarily effective Jesse Plemons asks captives “what kind of American” they are. Yet whatever divisions preceded the conflict are left to your imagination, at least partly because Garland assumes you’ve been paying attention to recent events. Instead, he presents an outwardly and largely post-ideological landscape in which debates over policies, politics and American exceptionalism have been rendered moot by war.

One thing that remains familiar amid these ruins is the movie’s old-fashioned faith in journalism. Dunst, who’s sensational, plays Lee, a war photographer who works for Reuters alongside her friend, a reporter, Joel (the charismatic Wagner Moura). They’re in New York when you meet them, milling through a crowd anxiously waiting for water rations next to a protected tanker. It’s a fraught scene; the restless crowd is edging into mob panic, and Lee, camera in hand, is on high alert. As Garland’s own camera and Joel skitter about, Lee carves a path through the chaos, as if she knows exactly where she needs to be — and then a bomb goes off. By the time it does, an aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), is also in the mix.

The streamlined, insistently intimate story takes shape once Lee, Joel, Jessie and a veteran reporter, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), pile into a van and head to Washington. Joel and Lee are hoping to interview the president (Nick Offerman), and Sammy and Jessie are riding along largely so that Garland can make the trip more interesting. Sammy serves as a stabilizing force (Henderson fills the van with humanizing warmth), while Jessie plays the eager upstart Lee takes under her resentful wing. It’s a tidily balanced sampling that the actors, with Garland’s banter and via some cozy downtime, turn into flesh-and-blood personalities, people whose vulnerability feeds the escalating tension with each mile.

As the miles and hours pass, Garland adds diversions and hurdles, including a pair of playful colleagues, Tony and Bohai (Nelson Lee and Evan Lai), and some spooky dudes guarding a gas station. Garland shrewdly exploits the tense emptiness of the land, turning strangers into potential threats and pretty country roads into ominously ambiguous byways. Smartly, he also recurrently focuses on Lee’s face, a heartbreakingly hard mask that Dunst lets slip brilliantly. As the journey continues, Garland further sketches in the bigger picture — the dollar is near-worthless, the F.B.I. is gone — but for the most part, he focuses on his travelers and the engulfing violence, the smoke and the tracer fire that they often don’t notice until they do.

Despite some much-needed lulls (for you, for the narrative rhythm), “Civil War” is unremittingly brutal or at least it feels that way. Many contemporary thrillers are far more overtly gruesome than this one, partly because violence is one way unimaginative directors can put a distinctive spin on otherwise interchangeable material: Cue the artful fountains of arterial spray. Part of what makes the carnage here feel incessant and palpably realistic is that Garland, whose visual approach is generally unfussy, doesn’t embellish the violence, turning it into an ornament of his virtuosity. Instead, the violence is direct, at times shockingly casual and unsettling, so much so that its unpleasantness almost comes as a surprise.

If the violence feels more intense than in a typical genre shoot ’em up, it’s also because, I think, with “Civil War,” Garland has made the movie that’s long been workshopped in American political discourse and in mass culture, and which entered wider circulation on Jan. 6. The raw power of Garland’s vision unquestionably owes much to the vivid scenes that beamed across the world that day when rioters, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “ MAGA civil war ,” swarmed the Capitol. Even so, watching this movie, I also flashed on other times in which Americans have relitigated the Civil War directly and not, on the screen and in the streets.

Movies have played a role in that relitigation for more than a century, at times grotesquely. Two of the most famous films in history — D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (which became a Ku Klux Klan recruitment tool) and the romantic 1939 melodrama “Gone With the Wind” — are monuments to white supremacy and the myth of the Southern Lost Cause. Both were critical and popular hits. In the decades since, filmmakers have returned to the Civil War era to tell other stories in films like “Glory,” “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” that in addressing the American past inevitably engage with its present.

There are no lofty or reassuring speeches in “Civil War,” and the movie doesn’t speak to the better angels of our nature the way so many films try to. Hollywood’s longstanding, deeply American imperative for happy endings maintains an iron grip on movies, even in ostensibly independent productions. There’s no such possibility for that in “Civil War.” The very premise of Garland’s movie means that — no matter what happens when or if Lee and the rest reach Washington — a happy ending is impossible, which makes this very tough going. Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray.

Civil War Rated R for war violence and mass death. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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‘Sting’ Review: A Giant Spider Grows in Brooklyn in a Knowingly Cheeseball Indie Horror Trifle

It borrows from movies like 'Alien,' but the one it conjures most is 'Little Shop of Horrors.'

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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In “ Sting ,” a giant-spider-grows-in-Brooklyn thriller that’s cheeky, bloody, and (most important) very gooey, Sting is the name given by Charlotte (Alyla Browne), a precocious tween, to the elegant two-inch-long black spider that becomes her pet (she keeps it in a jar and feeds it bugs). Yet given how much slaughter is caused by this omnivorous arachnid, which grows bigger and bigger with each feeding, the moniker turns out to be a major understatement. It’s as if Jason Vorhees were named “Paper Cut.”

Popular on Variety

It’s always fun to play the game of “What was the first slasher movie?” On some metaphysical level, the answer will always be “Psycho.” But if you say: What was the first slasher movie in terms of the whole glumly repetitive Who will be the next to die? tone and structure of it all, the films that people usually reach for are “Black Christmas” (1974) and, before that, Mario Bava’s “A Bay of Blood” (1971), which foresaw slasherdom in an ironic way. The film was so logy and inept that it presaged the formulaic quality that wound up defining the genre.

The spider, created with models and digital effects, is fun to watch; at times the film plays like “Alien” with a piece of origami at its center. The creature looks more real when it’s smaller, but as it enlarges its jaws look more sexual. As for the family drama, it’s all about whether Charlotte and her nice-guy stepfather, Ethan (Ryan Corr), can learn to get along. They’re creating a comic book together, but he’s the super of the building, working for Gunter (Robyn Nevin), his wife’s Teutonic cartoon of an aunt, and the misery of his existence starts to tear apart his fragile male ego. It will take nothing less than battling the now-giant spider to pull the family together. “Sting” is never more than a cheeseball trifle, but at least the film knows it.

Reviewed online, April 12, 2024. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 91 MIN.

• Production: (Australia) A Well Go USA Entertainment release of a Screen Australia, Align, See Pictures, Pictures in Paradise production, in association with Screen NSW, Cumulus VFX, Spectrum Entertainment. Producers: Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Chris Brown. Executive producers: Will Gammon, Mark Gooder, Diana Le Dean, Martin Metz, Doris Pfardrescher, Adrian Politowski Josh Pomeranz, Alison Thompson.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Kiah Roache-Turner. Camera: Brad Shield. Editors: Jeff Cummings, Luke Doolan, Kiah Roache-Turner. Music: Anna Drubich.
• With: Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Noni Hazlehurst, Robyn Nevin, Jermaine Fowler, Danny Kim, Silvia Colloca.   

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