I’m not much of a fan of the war movie. I was certainly not a fan of Alex Garland’s Civil War, from last year. I had kind of tuned out all press material for today’s film, Warfare, his follow-up, this time directed and written alongside Ray Mendoza. I only decided to see this movie because the early word of mouth for it was so strong, and critics I trust had given it their approval. And it isn’t often that a film blindsided me like Warfare did. It’s gripping, terrifying and viscerally effective filmmaking and it packs a mighty punch.

We open on a team of Navy SEAL team on a surveillance mission in 2006 Iraq. They’ve taken over this family’s home and they are meant to watch over the enemy across the street. And it’s a lot of waiting around until suddenly a grenade is thrown into the space they’re occupying and all hell breaks loose.

I had paid the promotional materials for this film so little mind that I had no idea who Ray Mendoza was. That’s crucial here. Ray Mendoza is a former Navy SEAL who is writing from his own experiences on this exact mission back in 2006. He’s played here by D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, perhaps best known for his work on the FX series Reservation Dogs. And he’s doing fantastic work here. The only other person here whose real identity is used in this film is the character Elliot Miller, here played by Shogun’s Cosmo Jarvis, who is quite good here as well. But the cast list of this film reads like a list of every actor who’s just about to make it big in Hollywood. And interestingly enough, it’s comprised mostly of British actors playing American soldiers.

Perhaps most well known in this cast is Joseph Quinn, who audiences will know from Stranger Things and his standout work in last year’s A Quiet Place: Day One. Noah Centineo, known for a hundred very popular Netflix projects, also appears here. We also have Kit Connor, from Netflix’s delightful hit Heartstopper, and Will Poulter, who has a number of memorable performances already on his credit list. Adain Bradley, who I had not previously seen before, also makes a strong impression, as does newcomer Evan Holtzman. But Charles Melton, who I still maintain should have won an Oscar for 2023’s May December, just about walks away with this entire movie. He has such a formidable presence about him, and he’s incredibly exciting to watch. 

A big problem I had with Alex Garland’s Civil War is that it felt like a film about how American politics had become so divided, that neither side can exist alongside the other anymore. And yet, Civil War takes no political side and ultimately says nothing about the world around it. Warfare takes you right back to how it felt in the mid 2000s when we were at war with Iraq and the war had gone on for so long at that point, where everyone was exhausted and nobody could really tell you what we were fighting for anymore. There is no strong political messaging in Warfare either, but instead it serves as an essential reminder of the hell of war, in a moment where audiences are in need of one more than ever. It almost feels like essential messaging, rather than what I thought this film would be, wartime propaganda.

The technical aspects here are also top notch, and effectively add to the film’s overall feeling of tension and dread. What cinematographer David J. Thompson’s camera shows us and doesn’t show us, executed in lots of unbroken long takes, is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. When combined with the visceral, punishing, unrelenting sound design on display here, the result is kind of astounding. The choice to not use a musical score here is also something that cannot go unmentioned. This choice adds to the intensity and claustrophobia evident in the entire film. The action, or the violence of war, is also incredibly brutal and disturbing to watch. So much so that I would advise you to forego the snacks and soda you typically get at the movies. You’re going to feel sick to your stomach at least once during this film. I cannot imagine this film’s mission being executed more effectively than it is here. 

Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza have made one of the great war films here, one that I think will be looked back on fondly. It almost feels like Alex Garland heard the criticisms of Civil War and actually did the work to correct those problems in his next film. There’s no Hollywoodization of war, no big monologues that sum up the film’s thesis statement, no backstories of characters meant to get the audience emotionally invested. What we get instead is a lot of very young actors who look like they’re scared shitless, and the viewer is horrified for them. The fact that the people fighting in these wars are essentially children, is something Warfare does not let you forget for the entire runtime, and the anonymity of these characters actually makes the entire narrative all the more powerful. Warfare is essentially everything I wanted Civil War to be, and it’s a gripping, viscerally intense and compelling horror picture about the atrocities of war and the people who have to live with them long after the survivors have gone home. This is pretty close to essential viewing.