Movie Review - Warfare

Director: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza
Genre: Drama/ Action
Runtime: 95 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis, D’Pharaoh Woon A-Tai, Aaron Mackenzie, Alex Brockdorff, Finn Bennett, Evan Holtzman, Michael Gandolfini,, Joe Macauley, Aaron Deakins, Noah Centenio, Kit Connor, Charles Melton
 
Description: A platoon of Navy Seals embark on a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, with the chaos and brotherhood of war retold through their memories of the event.
 
Review: “Warfare” is a film so realistic that it leaves all other dramatized war films behind. And uncompromising confrontation with the harsh reality of war.
 
On November 19^th 2006, Navy Seal team Alpha One storms a building in Ramadi, a city in central Iraq. The families living there are led to a bedroom and ordered to remain silent. Meanwhile, officer Ray Mendoza maintains contact with air support, while sniper Elliot Miller keeps the house across the street in his sights. Nothing seems to happen at first, until a grenade flies in and all hell breaks loose. Al Qaeda fighters attack from all sides.
 
“Warfare” is a historically accurate reconstruction of the violent siege of the Alpha One unit during the Iraq War, based on the testimonies of Mendoza and his teammates. The events are presented in real time. Everything looks completely incredible, because the film exudes hyperrealism and consistently maintains that line. There is no room for sentimental exchange, which most war movies use a lot of to make it more dramatic. But “Warfare” doesn’t need that, it’s raw and pure. And that’s the power of this film. One of the best films of 2025.
 
Rating: 4,5/ 5