Alex Garland’s Warfare is a technically brilliant, highly immersive chronicle of a risky Navy SEALs operation, set in Iraq in 2006.
Grade: B (*** out of *****)
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Warfare is co-written and co-directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, a former Navy SEAL (who had served as consultant on Garland’s previous picture, Civil War, starring Kirsten Dunst.)
As a terrifying taut combat movie, it serves as an honorable companion piece to Ridley Scott’s superlative Black Hawk Down in 2001, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar winner, The Hurt Locker, in 2009.
Largely told in real-time, in blistering detail, to accentuate hyper-realism (“you are there”), this “combat is hell” movie is impressively shot, often with hand-held cameras.
Be Warned: You will observe with horror the fighters’ tense close-ups, unexpected explosions, zipping bullets, and carnage that turns human bodies into hot spaghetti.
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (best known until now for TV’s “Reservation Dogs”) plays Mendoza with such authentic commitment that the role may catapult him to a higher level of stardom.
Other young members of the cast include Joseph Quinn from Strangers Things, as Sam, Will Poulter as Erik, the officer struggling to hold things together against all odds, and Cosmo Jarvis as Elliott, the charismatic sniper.
The film observes the always alert SEALs look out through windows with scopes, as the insurgents begin to mass, fearing that a brutal attack might come from any direction.
There is lack of interest in portraying the Iraqi soldiers; they’re just enemy members.
Nor is there attempt to place the operation in the broader political contexts of the U.S. Iraq (and other) wars.
Instead, Warfare aims at being a visceral experience, an ultra-violent movie that lacks any ideology; politics seem to be beside the point. What unfolds on screen feels like a bravura technical exercise, with non-stop action, limited to one day.
Using this strategy, the filmmakers refuse to provide a more conventional emotional or psychological point of entry for viewers to feel empathy connection to the proceedings.
The action unfolds in such way that right-wing viewers will see it as a glorification of fiercely American courage, whereas left-leaning spectators might be just shocked by the gory carnage.
The movie relies on an ensemble of young, appealing actors, some of whom may become major players in future pictures.
The cast includes D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, alongside Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton.
Charles Melton had already received critical kudos for his performance as the much younger husband of Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes’ fact-inspired satire, May December.
Warfare, which premiered in Chicago on March 16, 2025, will be released by the estimable A24 on April 11.
Of Similar Interest:
Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (about Somalia), which also featured an ensemble of talented actors, including Tom Hardy (in his feature debut), was a critical and commercial success, earning Scott a well-deserved Best Director Oscar nomination.
Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker won the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars (Bigelow became the first female winner), but it was not popular at the box-office.
Overall, both films are superior to Warfare, an angry picture
About Alex Garland
Born in 1970, Garland rose to prominence with his novel “The Beach” (1996), which was made into a rather weak movie by Danny Boyle, starring DiCaprio in his post-Titanic glory.
Garland then penned two more Boyle films, 28 Days Later (2002) and Sunshine (2007), as well as Never Let Me Go (2010) and Dredd (2012).
Garland made his directorial debut with the sci-fi thriller Ex Machina (2014), for which he earned Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination. Annihilation (2018), an adaptation of the 2014 novel, was a critical success. He wrote and directed the horror thriller Men (2022), and the dystopian thriller Civil War (2024), which divided critics.
Credits:
Directed, written by Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
Produced by Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Peter Rice
Cinematography David J. Thompson
Edited by Fin Oates
Production company: DNA Films
Distributed by A24
Release dates: Mar 16, 2025 (Chicago), April 11, 2025 (US)
Running time: 93 minutes
