The Fictional Insurrection Begins in 'War Game' Sneak Peek [Exclusive] (2024)

At a time of deep political division in the United States as the 2024 election approaches, films are reflecting the current state of the country and the fears many have about what the future holds. Alex Garland's Civil War played out the terrifying possibilities of a second American conflict set in the modern day and made a killing at the box office in the process. However, a new documentary makes it all feel even more real, as seasoned White House advisors from the last five presidential administrations are put to the test to imagine what a full-scale insurrection would look like while trying to prevent the downfall of democracy. Ahead of its arrival on Friday, Collider is excited to share a sneak peek at War Game that acts out how a mass military defection could begin.

War Game is billed as a "real-life political thriller" that imagines what would happen on January 6, 2025, if members of the military instead threw their support behind the losing presidential candidate, while the winner and their advisors were left with six hours to save democracy from the surging unrest. Inspired by an article in the Washington Post in the wake of January 6, 2021, the exercise was held by the organization Vet Voice, which brought in a bipartisan group of retired senators, representatives, intelligence officers, military members, and more senior officials to see if there was a way to pull America back from the brink. During their unscripted role-play session or war game, they play a fictional president and other advisors reacting in real-time to a political coup as they're briefed on disinformation campaigns, mass calls for violence, and attacks at both the U.S. and state capitals. Although it's all fiction, the advisors treat it as if it were unfolding before our eyes, creating a realistic and frightening portrayal of how the government and the military's best minds would tackle a contested 2024 election.

Our sneak peek centers on one advisor, Ralph Brown, who is tasked with playing a military leader who defected to join the losing candidate. He gives a fiery speech that hits on the American values laid out by our forefathers as he calls for members of the military to help save the country and fight for their rights after the election was "stolen." To bring the temperature down a notch and give the audience a chance to breathe, the clip comes to a close with the director reassuring him he did great acting out such a horrifying scenario, even though he asked if he should be friendlier in the speech. It's a reminder that this is still just a war game and there's room for a little levity despite the serious matter.

Who Is Behind 'War Game'?

At the helm of War Game are Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber, who both served as directors and co-writers. They each have strong resumes in the documentary space, including in similar fields to what their new feature covers. Moss is best known as the co-director of the massively acclaimed Boys State and its recent follow-up, Girls State, while Gerber has previously helmed The Notorious Mr. Bout and National Geographic's Kingdom of the White Wolf among other things. This isn't the first time the two have joined forces either, as they previously teamed on Full Battle Rattle, which similarly captured what happened during a war game within the U.S.'s Iraq War training facility. Their partnership with Vet Voice went beyond just filming, as they also helped craft immersive sets to mimic the situation room and other important offices.

War Game earned a fair amount of praise upon its debut at Sundance earlier this year, with a solid 72% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The directors discussed their unique creative approach to the gripping documentary in a lengthy director's statement in which they highlighted cinematic inspirations from Orson Welles's War of the Worlds to Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal. They said:

"The unique grammar of the film — part cinéma vérité, part political thriller, part dystopian sci-fi — in which real people improvise their characters and write the story in real-time, in a drama with the highest possible stakes, struck us as exciting and important. Equally compelling were the backstories of the small group of military veterans who were brought together, out of trauma and a love of country, to develop and stage the war game. Balancing these two storylines, unfolding on-stage, in the “sit room” and backstage with our “game-masters,” would be the dynamic challenge and structural puzzle of the editorial process. In developing our creative approach, our references were varied, and included Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, the films of Peter Watkins, the theater of Ivo Van Hove, Orson Welles’ War of The Worlds, Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, and Edward Luttwak’s classic book Coup d’Etat: A Practical Handbook."

War Game releases in New York on August 2 before expanding on August 9. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above and see the official poster below.