You’ve never seen anything quite like Warfare.
I admit it. That sounds cliché. After all, every movie wants you to believe that what they’re bringing is something wholly original. But, in the case of Warfare, I believe it to be the honest truth.
Dropping the audience into the Middle East, Warfare follows an elite group of American Navy SEALS as they embark on a routine surveillance mission in insurgent territory. Take control of a local home, the troops sit patiently, collecting information and awaiting orders. However, when their platoon is discovered, their operation is abandoned. Now, this band of brothers find themselves trapped as they wait for back up to rescue them from the impending insurgents.
Written and directed by Alex Garland and Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza, Warfare isn’t unique because of its grit or gore. It’s not because of its intensity or high-quality performances. While all of those things are true, what makes Warfare truly unique is its commitment to truth.
You see, Warfare isn’t here to entertain you. It’s here to give you as authentic an experience of war as possible.
Based on the memories of the real-life members of the platoon, Warfare may care more about authenticity than any other war film ever made. Every detail within the film is brought to life by the stories of the veterans that were there. Characters are shown to be less than perfect, often struggling to keep it together in the face of danger. There’s no stereotypical characters or ‘grand speeches’ that sound like they’ve been written in some cinematic lab. Everything that Mendoza and Garland put to screen was intended to be a moment that they could verify, from machine gun fire to severed limbs.
In fact, one could argue that this isn’t even a movie about these characters. Instead, it’s simply about the horrors of war. As a result, the film truly does feel different from the traditional ‘war film’. For example, amidst its stellar sound design, the film features no music over the action. (After all, if they weren’t listening to 70s rock at the time, why should we associate it with the moment?) The clock ticks away in real time as they await transport. Moments where the troops are sitting in silence may seem to play out slowly onscreen for an action film but so too do they bear the reality of the moment. (Mendoza has even stated that there were scenes where he watched ‘himself’—as portrayed by D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai—in action with such authenticity that it forced him to deal with his own repressed traumas from the events of that day.) There’s a reason that Garland has referred to this as more of an experimental film than an ‘action movie’.
Teamed with Mendoza, the two are simply breaking the rules of war movies.
Woven together, these threads of truth create something absolutely compelling. Coming off the success of his last film, Civil War, director Garland has pivoted styles entirely with Warfare. Whereas Civil War was a commentary about American politics, Warfare has no such interest. This isn’t even a film about the politics surrounding the Iraq War or the toxic nature of the American military. (In fact, it’s even arguable whether they’re ‘heroes’. The film shows men of bravery as they attempt to save one another but this is not necessarily ‘heroism’ in the tradition sense of the word.) In actuality, this is merely a moment in time as these men attempt to escape alive.
Even so, it’s worth noting that Warfare also makes bold choices in regards to its characters. For instance, we don’t learn any backstories about these troops and we barely know their names. Rather than give us insight into their ‘character arcs’, Mendoza and Garland keep the emphasis on the moment itself. (Although, the film does open with a more light-hearted moment that humanizes the platoon.) We don’t love them because they’re charismatic and charming. We hope for them because of the situation that they’re in.
In the end, it’s fair to say that Warfare may not be for everyone. Gritty and violent, this isn’t the sort of flag-waving actioner that we’ve often seen at the box office. Instead, it’s an uncomfortable look into the darkest realities of war. But that, without question, it makes it truly stunning. For those who are willing to step into the fray… er… theatre, one cannot deny that they’re going to see something special. And have an experience that they likely won’t forget any time soon.
Warfare is available in theatres on Friday, April 11th, 2025.
