Right at the top of the new war drama from co-directors Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War) and Ray Mendoza (the military technical adviser on Civil War), a title card tells us that the events we’re about to see are based on the memories of members of the military who were actually there when they happened.
It does not say “Based on a true story” or “Taken from actual real events.”
In fact, every American character in Warfare has the name of a real Navy SEAL who went through the harrowing Battle of Ramadi, Iraq, in November 2006. Being one of the Navy SEALs who went through these events, Mendoza is also credited with co-writing the screenplay with Garland, since he took it upon himself to interview his comrades in arms to re-tell this story of modern warfare, staged in real time. The results are astonishing and will rattle you like few other war films have ever done.
The cast is made up of both familiar and unfamiliar faces, but having actors who are also movie stars would have been a massive mistake. The characters become distinct to us because of their actions and reactions to chaos and sensory overload, and while having faces like Joseph Quinn, Will Poulter, Kit Connor, Charles Melton, and Michael Gandolfini here will help audiences keep some of the soldiers’ names and faces straight, the point of the film is to illustrate the Everyman quality of these people. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai plays Mendoza (of almost 20 years ago), and neither he nor any of the other soldiers are portrayed as superheroes or action stars, which is entirely the point.
The Navy SEALs are on what seems like a routine mission to watch over the movement of U.S. forces through insurgent territory. They take over the home of an Iraqi family and set up positions on the first and second floors, as well as the roof, looking down on the street and immediately noticing suspicious characters on phones checking out their position. The tension grows exponentially, and before long a siege begins and the home becomes the center of a major firefight. Garland and Mendoza never let us forget the family in the home, who are all moved to the safest spot in the house; yes, they are being protected, but it’s difficult to forget that these soldiers put them in danger in the first place, and the filmmakers acknowledge that without exactly seeming regretful.
The sound design on Warfare is the secret weapon, as we hear bullets whizzing by or ricocheting, voices coming from every direction, and footsteps overhead. The noises sound like they are in the room with us, and it creates a terrifying auditory experience. At one point in the story, a bomb goes off, seriously injuring a few of the soldiers but also fully disorienting almost everyone. At another point, a separate platoon shows up as reinforcements, literally stepping on the relative stability the original group have managed to settle into after the initial attack.
Warfare isn’t about character development, but that doesn’t stop us from learning essential bits and pieces about these men. Garland and Mendoza are going for full emersion, to make audience members one of these SEALs, making us feel the danger, the thunder of each explosion, and the teeth-rattling force each time an American plane is ordered to fly directly over the site in a “show of force” to frighten the attackers. Mistakes are made and immediately corrected; this isn’t a film about blame or dwelling on a wrong move. Instead, it becomes a story of survival, when staying alive during a conflict like this isn’t a certainty. If all you see in this movie is how Americans got caught up in a war that they probably shouldn’t have been in or stayed in too long, you are truly missing the point of Warfare, one of the most unforgettable film experiences of the year.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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