"You think they're gonna do it?"
Immensely intense from the onset, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's Warfare wastes no time capturing your attention as viewers find themselves in the streets of Ramadi, Iraq, in November 2006. Surrounded by the darkness of night, a platoon of Navy SEALs quickly overtake a two-story home within an urban area to covertly monitor local activity. The tension is palpable as they work through their posts, navigating the daily grind. Lulled into a state of content, everyone knows something is about to happen. But no one is keen on when.
A true story told exclusively through the memory of the SEALs who lived it, Warfare marks a unique entry into the military-backed genre. Veteran director Alex Garland teams with Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza on the film, forming a creative dream team that excels beyond expectations. Together, they capture the emotionally charged fury and undeniably crisp strain as a group of men, brought together by service, find themselves in a fight for survival.
Aided by a jam-packed cast that includes D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Noah Centineo, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton, Warfare never cuts below the surface of its characters. And it's a good thing. With so many key participants, keeping them separate, while potentially helpful, isn't instrumental to understanding the large-scale metrics. The who, what, and why are never a focal point. In that respect, the film, narratively speaking, is somewhat limiting. But that is by design.
Though it takes some time, viewers realize that Garland and Mendoza are dead set on providing an emotionally charged experience rooted in how things felt during the moment. The chaos, confusion, and horrors sit front and center, backed by a brotherhood that keeps you on the edge of your seat as your heart races, anxious for a resolution to the conflict.
As bullets fill the frame and the screams of agony hit a fever pitch, the discord is undeniable. The film's sound transports you to that moment, placing you amongst the SEALs as their training kicks in. Though we never learn much of their histories, nor do we get more than a glimpse into their personalities, we watch as the men tend to the wounded, mourn fallen comrades, and radio for assistance from nearby teams. Dire for a sign of hope, they long for help, hellbent on surviving the barrage of insurgents who have descended on them from every direction.
In what quickly becomes a rescue mission played out in real-time, Warfare captures the raw emotions that come forth during a moment of fear and confusion. As the team learns that air support isn't possible and a "show of force" only buys them minimal minutes, an armored transport proves their last hope. But getting from the house to the road where the bulletproof mechanism awaits is another challenge the men must navigate.
Once the mission concludes and silence fills the screen, you'll sit in stillness as your body comes down from its heightened sense of anxiety and awareness. This is expected. As your heart rate returns to a normal pace, many will see Warfare as romanticized, pro-military propaganda. Others will take the reverse approach, labeling the story as an anti-war fable. Truthfully, both stances are fair. Though the film does lift these men up on a trivial platform, the creators never dictate the lens viewers use to consume the material. It remains subjective. But the film's effectiveness of its intention to showcase the ruthless pandemonium of combat is not. That, without any question, is a triumph.
