Set within the Iraqi conflict in 2006, “Warfare” throws you headfirst into the onslaught of bloody and brutal intense modern combat.
Jointly written and directed by Alex Garland – who brought us the almighty “Civil War” in 2024 – with former Navy Seal and also military supervisor Ray Mendoza, we find ourselves thrown into the middle of an intense ‘incident’ in the 2006 battle of Ramadi. Predominantly filmed at Bovingdon Airfield Studios in Hertfordshire with some filming in Iraq, principal photography took place in May 2024.
Starring Will Poulter as ‘officer in charge’ Eric, Cosmo Jarvis as ‘lead sniper’ Elliott Miller, Kit Konnor as ‘newby gunner’ Tommy, Joseph Quinn as ‘leading petty officer’ Sam, and not last or even least D’Paraoh Woon-A-Tai as ‘radio operator’ Ray Mendoza. Warfare cast in March putting the actors together as a unit through a three week tough and realistic boot camp. Under advisement from Mendoza who required each actor were not only at their peak fitness level required for the role, but that they worked as a team as if actually within the ranks of the military. They were also shadowed by their immediate military veteran to ensure the intense reality made it to the screen. Garland shot the entire film in just 25 days ensuring that no character had been added or excluded and that the military dialect needed to be both accurate and also correct.
Opening with the juxtaposition of the pop video ‘Call on me’ by Eric Prydz, pumping the men up for war we are succinctly yet smartly introduced to our team without a word at this point even being spoken, of who is the subordinate through to their commanding officer and every man in between. Warfare was designed with the appearance of an uninterrupted heightened bloody flow, shot within a seemingly continuous timeline of ninety gruelling yet also mesmerising minutes of quiet build up, leading to an intensity as close to being within the conflict without actually being shot at. Warfare has been written and created to pull the viewer directly into the action as if a fly on the dusty Iraq wall, only here we do not see any glamorisation of heroism or superhero bravery, but that of camaraderie and the goal of completing their task, also with the aim of desperately trying to keep their colleagues and buddies alive.
Unlike “Civil War” which was written as if in a not too distant dystopian future, “Warfare” has been written and based on a singular actual event of almost twenty years ago. The outline and script were pulled together through memory and recollections of various military members being cross referenced to build a three dimensional picture of the intensity of that particular harrowing day. No dialogue or action has been added or taken away. The soundtrack additionally is a common tool to build the emotion of the audience, from the scarily simple theme of “Jaws” through to the brilliantly beautiful “Star Wars” series – both superbly written by John Williams, here however, we find ourselves absorbed into the action without a single piece of music to play with our hearts or indeed minds. Nothing to heighten our senses other than a cleverly crafted script that begins with a slow yet steady pace that act by act moves much faster until we reach the ultimate payoff.
The point of this superb film is not to create a hero worship, but to show the brutality of the multiple enemy front lines. “Warfare” is most definitely not to be seen on a mobile device or even on a lounge TV unless connected to some audio gear that incorporates some seriously large subwoofers. There is no music to draw us in yet the audio movement of aerial cover and ground attack by armoured tanks leaves one with more than enough to audibly deal with. It is almost wrong to view “Warfare” as acted as the action is superbly portrayed by each of the stellar cast. According to Elliot Miller – who permanently lost his power of speech and his leg within this battle – this is not just another war movie but a love letter to the entire military of the past and indeed today and a warning to the immediate future of our own children. Alex Garland has since disclosed that this will be his last film he will be directing, concentrating more on the writing side of the industry.
Warfare is an explosive, close to perfection cinematic experience.
Author: Piers, Maidstone Store
