Kirsten Dunst's Development Throughout Civil War Explains Her Character's Final Scene

Kirsten Dunst’s final scene as photojournalist Lee Smith in Civil War is one of the film’s biggest surprises, but she spent her entire character arc building to that moment. Alex Garland’s Civil War has quickly become one of the most talked-about movies of the year. Thanks to its inherently polarizing premise of a modern-day American Civil War and its curiously ambiguous political stance, it opens itself up to a wide range of discussions. And it’s not just the political elements that deserve a deep dive; the characters all go on complex personal journeys that are open to interpretation.

Throughout the movie, Lee is contrasted with Cailee Spaeny’s character, Jessie Cullen, a young, budding, up-and-coming war photographer eager to get her start. Whereas Jessie is excited about the prospect of going straight into a warzone to capture powerful imagery from the frontlines, Lee has grown bitter and disillusioned from years in the field. Lee starts out as a hardened photojournalist indifferent to Civil War’s politics, but as she becomes a mentor to Jessie, she ends up becoming more emotional and caring – and that’s what leads to her shocking final scene in the movie.

Lee Is A Jaded War Photojournalist Questioning Her Role When Civil War Begins

At the beginning of Civil War, Lee is a jaded war photographer who’s started to become disenchanted with her own vocation. The excitement that Jessie feels on her first major assignment is long gone from Lee’s own work, since she’s been all over the globe, witnessed plenty of horrific conflicts, and doesn’t see anybody learning any lessons from the bleak pointlessness of it all. She tells her own mentor, Sammy, played by Stephen McKinley Henderson, that she always thought when she went into warzones and documented the horrors of war around the world, she was sending a warning home.

But now that the warfare has come to her own doorstep, she wonders what purpose her work serves. This is further compounded when they drive through a town full of people burying their heads in the sand. What’s the point of Lee risking her life to capture these photos when most people don’t even bother to pay attention? This is how Lee feels at the beginning of the movie, but she eventually starts to remember why she got into journalism in the first place when she sees her younger self in Jessie.

Lee’s Relationship With Jessie Softens Her Emotions & Psyche

As Lee becomes a mentor to Jessie – and even becomes a sort of maternal figure watching over her and keeping her safe – she begins to soften her hard edges. She opens up a bit more emotionally and allows herself to be a bit more vulnerable. When Jessie shows Lee her first roll of war photos and starts putting herself down, Lee assures her that photojournalism has a one-in-30 ratio for keepers and she has a couple of great shots in there.

After Jessie has an assault rifle waved in her face by Jesse Plemons’ frightening character and gets knocked into a mass grave, Lee is the one she confides in. She tells her that, as terrifying and traumatic as the experience was, she’s never felt more alive. She got a thrill from getting so close to death and spends the rest of the movie chasing that thrill. The more Lee gets to know Jessie, the more she recognizes herself in her.

Why Lee Dies In Civil War’s Ending Saving Jessie

At the end of Civil War, as the Western Forces have infiltrated the White House with the journalists in tow and they’re about to charge the Oval Office and assassinate the President, Jessie jumps out into the crossfire to get a good shot. Seeing that she’s about to get herself killed, Lee jumps out after her. She pushes Jessie to the floor to protect her from the gunfire and Lee takes a couple of bullets to her torso, killing her. As she falls, Jessie quickly takes out her camera and snaps a photo of Lee’s death.

Lee’s death is a big surprise, but it’s also the culmination of her character arc. At the beginning of Civil War, after surviving a scrape with a militia, Lee confesses that she would’ve let Jessie get shot and taken pictures of her death. However, by the end of the movie, Lee decides that intervening and saving Jessie is more important than getting the shot. Jessie, on the other hand, gets the shot of Lee’s death, completing her own transformation into the hardened photojournalist that Lee was at the beginning.

Civil War

Civil War is a 2024 action thriller from writer and director Alex Garland. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Civil War takes place in the near future and shows the United States entering a new Civil War after California and Texas attempt to separate from the country.

Distributor(s)

A24

Cast

Kirsten Dunst , Wagner Moura , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Cailee Spaeny , Jesse Plemons , Nick Offerman