Film: Warfare

I’m a military brat with a family legacy of veterans, and I’ve watched military movies my entire life. For me, Warfare is one of the few movie that that truly honors soldiers as people and not as a war machine. I really appreciate that. It’s one of the best military movies I have ever seen.

Working on this review has been interesting, I had to sit with it for a while. It feels weird using my normal structure for reviews, so I don’t think I’m going to write a traditional review. I also had the privilege to attend a screening that concluded in a Q&A with some of the filmmakers, including writer-director duo Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. Their conversation brought to light so much about this film that I was not aware of. As this article unfolds, I will incorporate the Q&A and explore why this movie is more than what meets the eye.

Warfare is a ‘told in real time’ film based on the memories of a Navy SEALS platoon during one specific mission in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006. That’s it, no fluff, no agenda, just what happened to these young men in hostile territory for over an hour. Warfare is not a film made for the masses, and it’s not a film that was secretly used as a recruiting video; it is a film that was made for one reason: to explain what happened to someone who has no memory of this situation.

“Ray (Mendoza) had a story which he'd been carrying not just as a story, but internally, that he wanted to tell through film,” Garland said. “Elliott, who's played by Cosmo Jarvis in the film, has no memory of these events [in Ramadi], and Ray had always wanted to present a narrative so that Elliott could be shown in a literal way what happened.”

What I not only find fascinating but also honorable is that Mendoza didn’t just rely on his memories of this event, even though he was the instigator of the film. His first priority was to Elliot and to his platoon, and he wasn’t going to produce this film until everyone was on board. He needed their insight, their memories, and their blessing to create an actuate picture of the events.

“Initially, my memory provided the spine of it, but I needed their (platoon) support. Not just from an emotional standpoint, but if we’re going to do this, everyone's going to be in it,” Mendoza explained. “There’s things missing from my memory, so as we interviewed more guys, they started to fill in those gaps.”

It truly was a collaborative effort. Film, in general, is like that; you can’t have a well-rounded film unless all production areas are pulling their weight. However, this type of collaboration hit differently. It was about working together to get the most accurate portrayal of a very real, very intense situation correct. I can’t tell you how much that meant to this military brat.

Before we go anything further, I want to make sure you all know that even though I have spent significant time around veterans, I do not know the ins and outs of this profession. My military protocol knowledge is very limited. With that said, even though I feel that this is one of the most accurate films about soldiers, that does not mean that I am right. I’m sure there are things that veterans will find flawed compared to their personal experiences. (I’m very interested in eventually hearing my brother’s opinion of this film.) Then again, this movie is a personal experience, so that alone will make this film unique.

One thing, however, that I think could be seen as universal is the opening. As the film starts, we see our platoon standing around a laptop screen, crammed together to watch a risqué music video. Scantily clad women performing aerobic moves set these boys into a dancing frenzy. It’s such a typical boy thing to witness, and even though these young men are armed for battle, you see beyond the camouflage to witness the human beneath. 

What struck a cord with me in this scene is that it reminded me of the letters I would receive from my brother when he was deployed. He would describe, in little detail of course, what his daily duties were, but would also pepper in the antics of their “home life” on base. Watching this platoon acting goofy around the music video brought my brother’s letters to life. I was transported back to that time when uncertainty loomed around every corner, and I was emotional. Warfare isn’t about politics or good versus evil, it’s about showcasing the career these brave men and women have chosen and the situations they sometimes find themselves in. 

There is a through line of authenticity in Warfare. I believe the big reason behind that authenticity is that Garland made a point that the only influence/comments about the film came from the platoon themselves. During the Q&A, he mention that other ‘true’ or ‘based on real events’ productions use inaccurate techniques like “time compressions, remove characters, crunch characters, conflate characters, something that is perceived as being boring, gets removed,” when producing these types of films, pushing them into a fiction realm and not one of truth.

“The whole intention with this film was to not do that. So nothing was allowed to exist in the film unless it was relayed from a first-person account of one of the people who was involved in this,” Garland added.

So, for those who might come back and find holes in proper military channels, my counter is that this is not meant to be that kind of film. Memories, in their truest form, leave room for interpretation. This movie is a testimony to the events these men, that platoon, went through, and when you are in the heat of battle, sometimes things get muddled. There is nothing wrong with that, and for me, that makes Warfare an even more accurate war film.

“I think there are good ones [military films], it's just the good ones don't focus on what we focus on. I focused on this because it was for one guy,” Mendoza added. “And there's some secondary and tertiary groups: which is veterans, active duty military. It’s [told] through my perspective, what I feel war is like.”

We, as an audience, will never know what it’s like to be in a war zone. To know what it means to trust your life, the life of your family, and your future, in the hands of the men standing next to you. If you’ve been privileged, like I have, to see this connection in real life, you can’t describe it, but you know it’s the most intense connection our world has to offer. I will never try to say I or anyone else can truly replicate that, but I do believe Warfare does a brilliant job of honoring that experience. 

That’s why I think that this movie is worth your time; this film deserves your respect. We owe it to the men and women who chose to join the military, to the freedoms they protect, and to understand what active duty and veterans have been through. You are supporting our troops, you are thanking them, and you are honoring them.

Written by Lisa M Mejia
Images provided by A24