Warfare
April 2nd, 2025
MOVIE: WARFARE
STARRING: D’PHARAOH WOON-A-TAI, WILL POULTER, COSMO JARVIS, JOSEPH QUINN, CHARLES MELTON
DIRECTED BY: ALEX GARLAND, RAY MENDOZA
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 4 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 95 MINUTES
Movies that capture the chaos and terror of war can often put life into perspective. The sacrifices that men and women of our armed forces make are not quantifiable. You can’t put a number on it or compare it to one life or the other. It’s a path unlike any other. Director Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza remind us why we can’t put a value on the work that military soldiers do with their gripping, shocking, and decisive new film, Warfare. It’s a story about a group of Marines in Ramadi, Iraq, setting up a position inside a civilian house to monitor a terrorist cell, which begins as essential surveillance and turns into a fight for survival. Warfare is groundbreaking cinema.
The primary reason Warfare is groundbreaking is that it delivers a masterclass in the building of tension. That tension begins from frame one, where it opens on loud banging music, with the collective team watching a music video of a woman working out in neon tights, and a collection of tightly wound men hooting and hollering. It plays as a ritual before a job. An animalistic chant and display of the wild nature of men. Next, the music cuts, and soon we follow the soldiers in the dead of night, entering a home, to set up their stakeout location. It’s in this spot where we will spend time with these men.
Warfare features an all-star cast- Will Poulter, D’Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis, and Charles Melton- and those are a few off the top, where Garland and Mendoza have put together a squad that looks prepared for the battle. It’s that camaraderie and bond between all the characters that feels lived in, authentic to the core, as each member of the team gels with backhanded comments, military jargon that gives an elevated reality, and a constant tension that can’t be faked.
Where Warfare gets its authenticity is that the screenplay, which is also written by Mendoza, a Navy SEAL who served in this horrific moment, and the narrative is a combination of memories of the event, retold by the men who were there. Bullets fly by, a grenade lands on the top level, and an IED turns the entire mission on its head. It goes back to that word- authenticity. Warfare is terrifying, as you hear the blood-curdling screams of men injured, while the shock on each man’s face shows through the screen. The reality of the situation elicits thoughts of other great war films- Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, all of which rank at the top, yet all three films are quite different. That’s what makes them special.
The central word to describe Warfare is authentic. It’s shocking and shaking. The action goes from zero to sixty in a split second. And yet I am fascinated by the film’s final shot- SPOILER ALERT- it reveals the aftermath, with bodies sprayed onto the ground, puddles of blood, and severed limbs, and yet there are still a lot of people alive. There is a final shot indicating the battle was lost for everyone. And was it worth it? That’s a question for the audience to think about and can only be truthfully answered by the brave heroes who put their lives on the line. It’s just another reminder- Warfare is hell.
4 STARS
WARFARE IS PLAYING AT SELECT THEATERS ON FRIDAY, APRIL 11TH, 2025.
Written by: Leo Brady
