Directed by A24 darling Alex Garland (“Civil War”) and Navy veteran Ray Mendoza, “Warfare” is a haunting retelling of a real-life incident involving a platoon of Navy SEALs operating in 2006 during the Iraq War. Visually striking and emotionally intense, the film stands out as notable for its impressive stylistic choices and impeccable performances from an ensemble rarely known for the type of heavy-hitting drama this film depicts. But, beneath the Hollywood luster of “Warfare” lies a film that irresponsibly ignores the people the war most impacted.
Shot in the United Kingdom, the film features stunning cinematography, often encapsulating war’s claustrophobic environment with extreme close-ups on soldiers’ faces as they wait for hours for something to happen. Additionally, sound design choices, including a lack of a traditionally composed score, place audiences in the reality of what the service members experienced. In an instant, a quiet street in Iraq could become a violent battleground, with limbs strewn aimlessly in the middle of the road and agonizing screams of 20-something-year-old soldiers just realizing war’s true horrors.
Fans of Garland’s previous work will appreciate the intense combat scenes, similar to those depicted in films like “Civil War” and the questions of moral ambiguity raised in “Ex Machina.” The film doesn’t present a particular “side,” it presents a reenactment of the memories of the people who served in this particular incident.
While the film is technically masterful, excluding any narrative about the context of the war and the silencing of Iraqi voices in the film is not just a stylistic choice. Instead, it can be interpreted as a political and irresponsibly ironic reflection of who decides how stories are told. Although the directors argued the film’s purpose was to stand in the place of memories one of the service members depicted in the film forgot, when one of the most influential studios in Hollywood spends millions of dollars reconstructing only a partial narrative of a controversial and devastating war, it raises the question: Who gets sympathy? Who gets to be mourned?
Although “Warfare” is notable for its lack of a traditional soundtrack which often serves to represent a sense of heroism to the audience and it’s stunning cinematography, enjoying a purposefully built set to accurately represent the actual scene of the incident, “Warfare” exemplifies the importance of nuance in depicting controversial and devastating events. To call the film an intense, immersive experience is an understatement, while also raising complex questions about filmmaking and the role of media in shaping public discourse.
3 out of 5 combat missions
