‘Warfare’ Review: A Gripping Ride Through Hell

To say that Warfare is one of the most tense movies I’ve ever watched would be an understatement. When all was said and done, and I left the cinema, my jaw ached from clenching my teeth for most of the movies’ 95-minute runtime.

That tense feeling is absolutely by design and is masterfully executed by director Alex Garland (Civil War, 28 Days Later), led by writer, co-director, and Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza. If you’re at all interested in seeing this movie, I’d highly recommend it.

It’s an inspiring story of how humans can band together under pressure, as well as a bloody and gory look at the realities of war.

If you need a bit more convincing, stick around. Warfare is a story of war, told by someone who has been boots on the ground: the story told in Warfare is true, to the best of the memories of the people involved.

In November 2006, a group of U.S. Navy SEALs was conducting a mission in a part of Iraq controlled by Al Qaeda forces. They wanted to slip in unnoticed and surveil the surrounding regions to ensure safe passage of ground forces in the area the following day. Unfortunately, the SEALs didn’t go unnoticed, and the home they ‘borrowed’ under cover of night becomes a battle zone.

Mendoza was part of this operation, and brings the harrowing details to life on the big screen after he and Garland reconstructed the events through Mendoza’s memory, as well as interviews with his former SEAL team. Together, the team behind Warfare built up a realistic set of events, based on everything they had learned about the mission, and set about bringing them to life.

Boots on the Ground

It doesn’t feel like a typical Hollywood military movie – it’s largely told without embellishment or grandiosity – and that quality helps it to retain an air of truth and realism. It’s also one of only a few movies I’ve ever seen to essentially forgo a soundtrack of any kind. You hear everything the SEAL Team hears, from the boredom of a routine communications job, to the deafening ring left behind after a rocket-propelled grenade goes off in close proximity.

And while it isn’t one continuous shot, the movie takes pains to keep you rooted firmly in the shoes of the men on the ground. Other movies will often cut away from tense moments to provide some level of relief to the audience, but Warfare simply doesn’t.

There were several moments where I wished the camera would cut to a different scene – a general in a nearby base coordinating a rescue operation, or a pilot flying overhead, looking down at the carnage unfolding – if only to escape the hell that these men were going through. But, just like the soldiers on screen, you’re stuck in a foxhole with few ways out.

That ‘matter-of-fact’ viewpoint makes the few moments of bloody, dedicated gore feel distinctly real. I’ve watched plenty of gory horror movies in my time, but it’s rare that I feel the need to look away from whatever I’m seeing. There are few moments that made me wince, or groan to myself, just out of how much pain the soldiers on screen were in, and watching their teammates go to pains to ease their suffering.

A movie like this lives and dies by the performances of its cast, and thankfully Warfare managed to pull together a bunch of incredible talents. While I don’t want to simply list off each cast member and say how good they were, I don’t think there is a weak link here. Every actor gave it their all, and it shows.

In terms of standout performances, though, Reservation Dogs‘ D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai takes on the role of Mendoza, while Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis plays team leader Elliott Miller, and both nail the brief. It’s Gladiator II‘s Joseph Quinn, however, who stands out in my memory, giving one of the most gut-wrenching and harrowing depictions of a near-fatally wounded soldier that I’ve seen.

Final verdict:

Warfare feels like a once-in-a-lifetime movie: pieced together by the people on the ground, brought to life by a visionary director and an incredibly cast, and unafraid to keep the audience in the thick of it. Again, if you have any interest in seeing Warfare, I really can’t recommend it enough. It’s incredibly tense, and bordered on nauseating at times, but it’s one of the greatest attempts to bring the reality of war to the screen I’ve seen.

Just remember to unclench your teeth.

★★★★★