I had initially assumed this movie was going to be what it felt like: a somewhat realistic, somewhat dramatized presentation of a fracturing America that uses our current sociopolitical flashpoints to frame the action. Instead, what I watched was a thriller as much as a disaster movie, focusing on the trials of war reporting and how far those committed to documenting said war will go.

There’s no clearly defined timeline or course of events—only that the US president is in his third term, the US has splintered into several factions, and that the lead, who appears to be in her late 30s, first became notable as a photographer when she documented the (as of yet, fictional) ‘Antifa Massacre’ while still in college. From that we could extrapolate a timeline or try to figure out details, but the movie goes too quickly for that. The characters get on the road as soon as the initial framing is complete, driving from NYC to DC in the hopes of interviewing the presidential dictator.

We’re treated to tense standoffs with armed citizens, twitchy firefights with professional soldiers and conspicuously Hawaiian-clad militiamen, and several diversions to complete the painting of a nation in crisis. It’s sure to get viewers thinking about real life in their own lens, interpreting the movie as much as the countless acts of political zealotry and outright violence available to us with just a few keystrokes. That’s the core message, if there is one: ‘Here is violence, and here is what happens. What does this mean to you?’

There’s no heavy-handed message or even explicit partisanship—unless you happen to align with the ideology of modern US ultranationalists who think the Schutzstaffel didn’t go far enough. Even then, that’s only for one scene. Not even when the climax of the movie hits is the focus on the final conflict in DC; it’s on the war photographers, and how they’re forged in blood and a single-minded devotion to the message. Whether this devotion is worth it is yet another question left up to the viewer.

I didn’t realize it, but the director (Alex Garland) also helmed the movie Ex Machina. It’s one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time, and that’s a title I very begrudgingly give to it. I wanted to hate Ex Machina after the ending; in particular, I wanted to hate a certain character. I wrestled with my kneejerk feelings and conscious acknowledgment of a narrative as relatable as it was compelling, and I think that thematic is no less present in Civil War. If you were paying attention to the movie, you’re going to have something to say—and it might not be what you were expecting.