WARNING: SPOILERS for “Civil War” follow.Lee deletes just one crucial photo in Alex Garland’s dystopian 2024 film Civil War. Civil War The cast is led by Lee (Kirsten Dunst), Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman, who plays a tyrannical US president. Civil War offers a hypothetical scenario for the near future in which 19 states secede from the country. The western forces, led by the unlikely alliance of Texas and California, have militarized themselves under a new American flag with two stars instead of 50. There is also the Florida Alliance, which is depicted in the film fighting with the loyalist state of South Carolina and plays a major role in the violent confrontation in DC Civil War End.

Garland’s ambitious film was produced by the popular independent production company A24 and can be considered her first action blockbuster. With a reported budget of around $50 million Civil War represents a bold extension of A24’s traditional brand of independent contentwhich has become an integral part of the modern film landscape. Civil WarIts box office success and 81% critics’ score on Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes made it one of the studio’s highest-grossing films, bringing in a total of $122.6 million worldwide. It posted the highest opening weekend of any A24 film after grossing $25.7 million in its first few days in theaters.

Lee deletes a photo of Sammy’s death in the Civil War

It is the only photo she deletes in the film

While Lee, Jessie, Joel and Sammy travel to DC to interview Offerman’s role as President, Lee tells Sammy why she got into photojournalism and war photography in the first placeand told him that she thought she was sending a warning message home that would ultimately make a difference in the world. As the audience watched Lee in Civil WarShe is existentially exhausted and professionally disillusioned, desensitized to the terrible realities of her job and the state of the country. As Jessie’s reluctant mentor, Lee is at a crossroads: he must encourage Jessie to follow her career goals, even though he knows the horrors and tragedies that come with the job.

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“Civil War” by Alex Garland paints a captivating portrait of war photography and war journalism – not least because of the film’s real locations.

After Sammy was shot in Civil WarLee does her job by taking a photo of him but ultimately deleting it. unwilling to reduce one of her greatest colleagues and friends to another motif in one of her pictures. This contradicts an opinion she expresses to Jessie at the beginning of the film, after Jessie asks her whether or not she would take a photo of her corpse, and with a blunt “What do you think?“Despite what Lee told Jessie about the cruel truth of her job, she deletes the photo of Sammy after looking at it later. This is the only time in the film that she deletes a photo she took.

Lee deletes the photo of Sammy’s death, connecting it to her Civil War arc

Lee begins to fall apart after Sammy’s death

Lee is a hardened veteran who knows that one of the biggest and most dangerous things a war photographer can do is get personally involved. After Sammy heroically rescues Jessie, Joel and Lee from a horrific confrontation with Jessie Plemons’ militant character, it turns out that Sammy was shot as they drove to safety. Although Lee has probably seen hundreds of deaths before her eyes, Sammy’s death forces her to become less desensitized to what she photographs. Ultimately She couldn’t separate the emotions of Sammy’s death from the emotionless demands of her jobwhich touched her deep inside.

After Sammy’s death, Lee is no longer able to maintain the stoic attitude she displays throughout most of the film. Deleting Sammy’s photo goes against her strong journalistic integrity, but since he was such an important friend, She wanted to remember his life, not his death. Although Joel is emotional throughout, he also reaches a breaking point after nearly dying and losing Sammy within minutes, claiming Sammy died in vain. Joel is more determined than ever to get to DC and make Sammy’s sacrifice worthwhile, which he succeeds in doing by the end of the film. Lee, however, begins to show real fear for the first time.

Lee’s deleted photo makes her death and legacy more heartbreaking

Lee passes the baton to Jessie after saving her life

Sammy’s death forces Lee to question her life and career in profound ways. She becomes afraid and hesitates to act on the front linessuggesting that she has gotten back in touch with her emotional self for the first time in decades. Deleting the photo could also be a sign that she is no longer interested in the job and is ready to give up on her career, especially after expressing to Sammy that she no longer feels like she is making an impact.

Unfortunately, Lee does not get the chance to retire, but symbolically passes the baton to Jessie. The story comes full circle when Lee is shot while protecting Jessie in the White House. Jessie becomes increasingly desensitized throughout the film, suggesting that the photo she takes at the end of Lee’s death Civil War will probably not be erased, but will become a historic moment, just as Lee herself taught her.