A24’s ‘Civil War’ Trailer Portrays California And Texas As Allies, Something People Can’t Fathom Happening In Real Life

In Civil War, director Alex Garland‘s new movie for A24, America is at war with itself. Believable enough premise so far.

But in the action-packed trailer, President Nick Offerman informs the nation that the “so-called Western Forces of Texas and California have suffered a very great defeat at the hands of the United States military.”

It sounds like the two states, along with 17 others, have seceded from the union. Again, believable, especially for Texas. But what’s less realistic is California (63 percent blue in the 2020 election) and Texas (52 percent red) agreeing on anything, politically speaking. It’s why so many of California’s finest — Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, etc. — eventually move to the Lone Star State.

The Texas and California line has inspired a lot of reactions online. “I’ll give Garland some credit. Having Texas and California team up and start a new civil war is a brilliant way to make sure your dystopian movie about the rise of American fascism is NOT political,” @BivouacChillin wrote on X, while @CarmanTse noted, “The alliance of Texas and California in the Garland movie will be easily explained: they’re two biggest states by population and area, easy to connect geographically and—most importantly—there’ll be a fake Elon Musk technocrat he’ll write into the movie that unites them.”

Speaking as someone who lives in Texas, we have Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger. We’re thriving without California’s help, thank you very much.

Civil War, which stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman, and Cailee Spaeny, opens in theaters on April 26, 2024. You can watch the trailer below.