Warfare was written and directed by Iraq war veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, both fresh off Alex Garland’s 2024 film Civil War for which Ray Mendoza was the military supervisor.

 

Warfare is interesting for self describing as being based on the memories of those involved in the events depicted and portrayed in real time. It is  gritty, rough, and captures strikingly some of the chaos of firefights through its detailed sound design and invasive camerawork. 

 

Warfare is concerned with the moment its characters find themselves in, rather than the story that brought them there. The audience is presented with a scenario and its execution for their interpretation instead of a story that explores characters in the hope of having the audience connect with them and their plight.

 

This means the film is visceral, intense and without pathos: being confronting through depiction rather than dramatisation.

 

Warfare is an intense depiction of action thanks to directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s commitment to real time presentation and that the memories of the people involved be the only source of adaptation.