America is divided in Alex Garland’s latest film, Civil War, now in UK cinemas. Our second feature on alternative movie posters focuses on the pieces inspired by the British writer and filmmakers’ visually arresting work.
Though Alex Garland may be one of cinema’s more divisive figures, his striking work has the ability to inspire creatives across the globe. Having started as a writer, teaming up with Danny Boyle for 28 Days Later and Sunshine, he turned director with his 2014 feature debut Ex-Machina, a sci-fi thriller that sees Domhnall Gleeson visit the isolated home of his company CEO whose humanoid robot Ava (Alicia Vikander) proves to be dangerously captivating. Below, illustrator Mark Levy retains the film’s futuristic feel whilst stripping Ava of her robotic body. Both Dom Bittner, who uses acrylics for his hand-painted prints, and designer Adam Demarti have Ava’s creator (played by Oscar Isaac) hovering ominously behind.
Victoria Cheape’s Garland set may be stripped of colour, but the juxtaposition of a soft, beige background with strong, detailed illustrations works beautifully. Victoria has a wonderful knack for capturing a film’s essence, as can be seen here on her gorgeous Instagram page.
With its rainbow shimmer, iconic lighthouse and horrific creature design, few modern films have captured artists’ imagination quite like 2018’s Annihilation. Loosely adapted from the book by Jeff VanderMeer, the film features Natalie Portman as a cellular biology professor tasked with exploring the anomalous (and expanding) zone known as ‘the shimmer’ – the result of a meteor strike three years prior. Below, designs by Travis English, Adam Juresko and Kilian Eng all use the film’s vibrant flora, wrapping it around the twisted skulls of the deceased to create beautiful, yet terrifying artwork.
Inside the shimmer, things are refracted. Plants take on the form of humans and animals mutate. Santana López’s beautiful design, with its shapes and lines carefully manipulated, captures this juxtaposition of nature and distortion. Graphic designers Igor Ramos and Dan K Norris chop up Natalie Portman with an invasive flower and the skeletal jaw of the mutant bear. All three transmogrify.
As the film reaches its confounding ending, questions of identity and humanity are plagued by apocalyptic anxiety. Artist Edgar Ascensão returns us to the lighthouse where the cosmic phenomenon began. Whether it’s the dying sun in Sunshine (2007) or Ex-Machina‘s melting glacier, annihilation seems near.
Civil War is currently in cinemas.
