Review of Warfare
Warfare (2025) Dir. Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza
Warfare is a film based on true events and the memories of Ray Mendoza. During the Iraq war a group of young Navy SEALs begin a surveillance mission. But after everything goes horribly wrong, how will they escape and how will they cope?
Coming off the heels of making one of 2024’s best films (Civil War), Director Alex Garland sets his sights on Warfare. A harrowing look into the Iraq war, that pulls no punches and in no way romanticises it. But Garland is not the only visionary working on this movie, co-director Ray Mendoza wrote and directed this film alongside Garland, as the tagline says this film is “based on the memory of the people who lived it” and Mendoza was one of the Navy SEALs on the mission depicted in this film. This allowed the film to feel much more realistic and brutal, stripping away some of the glamorisation Hollywood is known for in their war movies. This film is full of tension, deeply upsetting moments, and masterful cinematography.
Similar to Civil war, this film thrives in its tension building. The entire first act is so quiet and slow, mainly focusing the audience into getting to know all the characters and their dynamics. But as the movie keeps moving forward the silent shadow of doubt keeps creeping in with the idea that something is going to go wrong. That feeling just completely engulfs the first 30 minutes of this film and the tension that builds from it is nail biting. But saying that, I do feel like this film is very reliant on immersion, if you aren't fully giving this film your 100% attention and you aren’t invested in what it's trying to set up, you may have a hard time enjoying this movie.
The casting for this film is absolutely inspired. The cast is made up of up and comers like Kit Conner, Will Poulter, and Noah Centineo to name a few. But the interesting thing about this cast is most of the actors are known for playing roles in children's media. Kit Conner had his big break with the Netflix show Heartstopper, a tv show where he plays a teenager in high school, Will Poulter was in the Narnia Franchise, and Noah Centino was on the Disney Channel. There are plenty of other examples like this throughout the entire cast, but I feel like this idea empathises the point that these soldiers are young adults, out of their depth, and are struggling to comprehend what's going on around them.
Additionally, it makes the more brutal scenes in this film, that much more uncomfortable and horrifying. I would like to shine the spotlight in Joesph Quinn’s direction. His performance in this film was utterly incredible, without spoiling what happens, there comes a point where Quinn pulls off the most visceral and earthshattering performance after experiencing something truly horrendous, and when that moment came, I was truly in awe of his performance.
The first two acts of this film are executed perfectly, but it's the third act that did start to lose me, just a little bit. After everything that happens the movie just becomes a little flat and turns into an escape story, and I did find this part under paced. A good 10 minutes could be cut from this part to make for a more immersive and engaging ending.
Whilst Warfare doesn't quite hit the highs of Civil War, it is still a great film that says a lot about war, trauma, and the military system. This film is pure unfiltered reality of the horrors of war. If there is any other reason to give this film a shot, it should be for its fantastic cast of actors. That put in some of the year's best performances.
★★★★
4/5
Jacob Holmes
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Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2vL6V
