Alex Garland says he plans to step away from directing for the “foreseeable future” following A24’s Civil War.
Speaking with The Guardian, Garland confirmed that he plans to retire, at least for the time being, as a director and will instead focus on writing.
“Nothing’s changed,” Garland said. “I’m in a very similar state. I’m not planning to direct again in the foreseeable future.”
Why does Alex Garland want to step away from directing?
He added, “The pressure doesn’t come from the money. It comes from the fact that you’re asking people to trust something that, on the face of it, doesn’t look very trustworthy.” Garland further pointed to 2014’s Ex Machina as an example of this, saying, “Alicia [Vikander] and Sonoya [Mizuno] are trusting that nudity is going to be dealt with thoughtfully and respectfully … [when] cinema leans towards not doing that.”
He also spoke on navigating the divisive reactions toward Civil War, which hasn’t yet been released, and some of his other movies, saying, “[I am] trying to circumvent that by not being polarising, and by trying to find points of agreement…What I’m usually doing in films is presenting more than one opinion, so it’s more like a conversation, rather than: ‘Do this, think that’. So there are several ways you could look at Ex Machina; as a film about sentience, or where gender resides, or objectification. The same is true of Men. And somewhere, coded within that, I will be taking a position. But I’ve tried to do it in a way that isn’t interrupting the conversation.”
Garland pointed out that he still “loves film” but noted that “film-making doesn’t exist in a vacuum” because “it exists in a life and also in a broader context.”
At this time, Garland is still attached to co-direct another movie, Warfare, with Ray Mendoza. “I respect him a great deal, though we’re very different,” Garland said. He’s also writing the script for the upcoming 28 Days Later sequel, 28 Years Later, which is being directed by Danny Boyle.
Civil War releases in United States theaters an IMAX on April 12, 2024, from A24.
