Warfare

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 26/4/25.
Directors: Ray Mendoza & Alex Garland
Actors: D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis
Genre: Action / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Warfare’ is based on a true story and follows a squad of US Navy Seals in Iraq in 2006. The film takes place over a short period, <12 hours, and after a funny intro, we get introduced to the characters – primarily Ray (Woo-A-Tai, from ‘Reservation Dogs’), Elliot (Jarvis, from ‘Shogun’), Sam (Quinn, from ‘Stranger Things’), Frank (John Smith, from ‘Sharp Objects’) and Erik (Poulter, from ‘We’re The Millers) – as they hole up in a house in an Iraqi town in support of a larger operation. Nothing happens for 30min, so we get to learn something about most of them.

Then things start to escalate, and holding position quickly turns to trying to evacuate. This is all close-quarters, tightly filmed fight scenes, with no real respite. When things explode, we hear the ringing in the ears/semi-silence, and stay with the squad as they deal with the aftermath – there’s no edits to later on, just the reality of the moment. Some interesting war tactics I’d not seen before, including the “show of force” from the planes and how they use the tanks.

This is a tight 95min – lean and nothing wasted. It’s not a typical war film – there’s no central protagonist, no hero’s journey, no glorification. It’s all just dirt, explosions, and pinging bullets. Closest film I can think of to this is ‘Black Hawk Down’. The ending is good, as the entire battle is effectively pointless – which is the point, as arguably all war is. Good performances from the cast, who come across as both young and out-of-place – like that entire war was.

Overall: Gritty and realistic war day-in-the-life

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars