“Warfare” is perfectly titled. From start to finish, the film truly is warfare — nothing more, nothing less.
Taking place in 2006 Iraq, the movie follows a platoon of Navy SEALS who, after being caught in a surveillance mission gone wrong, must call for help and escape under enemy fire.
“Warfare” is not a typical war film. It doesn’t set up any sort of backstory for the events, nor for the characters. In most other cases, such a decision would make the story feel hollow and underwhelming. However, this precisely highlights where the movie breaks from the beaten path: There is no story.
The movie is simply a retelling of a certain 90-minute span of a certain place and a certain time during the war in Iraq. This unconventional method becomes clear in the first few moments, as the opening credits make it known that the following events are completely composed of the memories of the real soldiers that were present on that day.
The impact this has on everything that happens next can’t be understated. Knowing that not only are the core story beats true, but that everything down to the last detail is factual, makes the events all the more brutal and enthralling.
The movie is co-directed by Alex Garland, known for “Civil War” and “Annihilation,” and Ray Mendoza. Mendoza is a veteran who was there on the day of the events, and his 2006 self is even a leading character in the film, played by D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai.
Woon-A-Tai is phenomenal in his portrayal of Mendoza, and the rest of the star-studded cast delivers strong performances as well. The film features actors like Will Poulter, Charles Melton, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor and Noah Centineo. Despite them being stars, their typical charisma and charm are stripped away, allowing for grounded performances as nothing more than soldiers. That doesn’t take anything away from them, however, as they are all great in different ways.
For example, similar to the film overall, they’re all unbelievably dedicated to a sense of hyperrealism. Specifically Quinn, who, after sustaining a significant and nauseatingly graphic injury, lets out some of the most gut-wrenching and haunting screams that you’ll ever hear on film.
This authenticity is also felt in the brilliant sound design. Every gunshot feels impactful, and there’s a loud explosion that truly serves as one of the most effective jump scares in recent memory.
The visceral action and the brutal effects it has on the soldiers leaves the viewer completely exhausted when the credits roll, despite the runtime only being a mere 90 minutes. It’s not an exhaustion that comes from being tired of the characters or the film itself, but from being worn out by the seemingly unending battle as a whole.
“Warfare” is not a film that gets caught up in heavy-handed themes or subliminal messaging that the viewer has to search for. There is no backstory given to anything, whether the characters or the events altogether. Everything you need to know and understand is right in front of you, coming in blood, bullets and warfare.
