‘Warfare’ Review – This Century’s Most Realistic War Film

After the divisive, technically impressive Civil War (2024), Alex Garland returns to the director’s chair alongside co-director Ray Mendoza for Warfare, a film based on the latter’s experience as a Navy SEAL during the Iraq War. The film drops us into an operation during the Battle of Ramadi with the intentions of the mission unknown. We have no idea what the goal of this platoon is or who they are investigating. The film’s ensemble cast features D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mendoza, Cosmo Jarvis as Elliot Miller, and Joseph Quinn, Will Poulter, Charles Melton, Kit Connor, and Michael Gandolfini as other soldiers from that day whose names have been changed for the film.

Warfare is in many ways an experimental piece, not in any abstract way that’s confusing to follow, but in the lack of narrative and characterization. The film’s plot is constructed solely from the memories of the Navy Seals who were there that day. If it didn’t come from something they remember, it’s not in the film. No sprucing up the story to build drama or get certain characters together, just pure realism. It’s more like a reenactment film you might see passing a museum exhibit than your typical movie, but with the power of a $20 million budget behind it. 

Compared to a lot of recent war films, Mendoza and Garland made this fairly cheap. Comparing this to Civil War’s $50 million budget, you can tell they stripped down any frills they didn’t need which also allowed them to have more control over the production. Higher budgets typically mean more input from those providing it. Even with the lower budget, the whole team delivers the most realistic displays of combat ever. 

Like in his last film, Garland has figured something out in the sound department. Warfare arguably has the best sound work of the century, masterfully recreating the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the haziness people experience when confronted with these things in tight quarters. There’s a harrowing scene following a massive explosion that has the platoon in a daze, which switches between the perspectives of each of the men. Each one’s hearing is altered and they all hear things differently, making it hard to communicate and adding to the tension. The sound work in this scene alone is worthy of an Oscar nomination, and the work continues throughout the whole movie. 

The film’s special effects work, particularly prosthetics, is also impressive. Several of the soldiers get injured by the surrounding attackers and wind up with some gnarly wounds. The realism of the film is enhanced through the look of these wounds, and it’s one of the few times in my filmgoing career that I’ve felt sick to my stomach by seeing something on screen. It’s affecting and upsetting. These sequences make Warfare a tough watch, but the filmmaking and craft on display are so worth it. 

Much has already been said about the intentions behind Warfare and why Mendoza and Garland decided to make it, as well as whether it’s morally acceptable to portray war and combat on screen. For Mendoza, this is an incredibly personal piece meant to solidify this day in history and what he and his platoon went through. It appears that the intention stops there for him, fairly cut and dry. Garland’s motivations are a little more elusive. He tried his hand at neutrality with Civil War, and takes a similar approach here. It does appear that Mendoza’s passion for this story was the primary guiding hand, with Garland using his filmmaking expertise to make the former’s vision come to life in the most visceral, realistic way. 

By way of performances, none of these characters has much to work with. This is intentional, with no extra flare or characterizations added to submit to realism and accuracy above all else. There are no heroic speeches or snappy dialogue to get us through the intense parts of the film. In fact, most of what is said is military jargon, the most basic form of communication these men can have together. Charles Melton is the one standout from the crowd, and his entrance partway through the film adds some charisma and life to the platoon that they desperately needed. 

Warfare is an impressive technical achievement that shows the most accurate and realistic depiction of combat that we’ve ever seen. Although it has some muddled political implications, the intentions behind it are pretty clear in the eyes of the filmmakers. This happened, these are the men that it happened to, and we remember. That answer likely won’t satisfy some viewers, but in a lot of ways, it’s enough to justify its making.

Warfare is currently playing exclusively in theaters courtesy of A24.