I’m Still Thinking About Alex Garland’s Warfare Three Weeks Later. A Few Things Really Stuck With Me

You know a movie is good when you can’t stop thinking about it after you finish it. It’s been three weeks since I watched Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare, and I still can’t get it out of my mind. Warfare was one of my most anticipated films on the upcoming 2025 movies schedule. The sounds were haunting, and the acting was incredible, but what hit me like a ton of bricks that I can’t stop thinking about was how REAL the movie felt.

I was a big fan of the movie Civil War last year, so I was stoked to hear that Garland was immediately following up with Warfare. I loved how he told the story about journalists going into an active warzone. Civil War‘s ending left room for debate, which added to the depth of the story for me. It gave me hope that his latest project would be just as good. And let me tell you, it was better.

Hollywood Loves Making Sensational Movies About War

I do want to preface that I am not ex-military. I have family that served, and many friends that I love dearly who went to war or who were stationed in active zones. We often talk about movies due to our shared love for cinema, and they let me ask how accurate something is. And while we all have a deep passion for a fun, action-packed movie about the good guys going in and getting their top-secret mission done, the criticisms are always the same. The majority of Hollywood films about war are not even remotely realistic. We ranked some of the best war films, but some are more fantastical than others.

There have been some incredible war films made that lean more into realism. Black Hawk Down is a personal favorite of mine. We see clearly how brutal and chaotic that war can be. We see how scared and tired the soldiers are, and we see the mental toll it takes on soldiers when they are under fire. The extra layer is that the movie was based on the Battle of Mogadishu, which is a real event. These elements combine to give us a movie that doesn’t romanticize war, making the movie very impactful.

However, for every realistic film about the pain and devastation of war, there are plenty more that fall into the bucket of unrestrained boys’ adventures. Big knives, bigger guns, and one-line zingers abound. The Rambo movies are a great example of war movies that I feel fit this. The violence is over the top and highly stylized. Another example would be any of The Expendables movies. The action is relentless and choreographed in a way that feels more like a dance than a scene in war.

As cool as it is to see Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone walk away from a building being blown up or take out a whole bunch of bad guys without any issues, that’s not even close to what happens in real life. These perfectly executed impossible stunts and nonsensical explosions might be fun to watch, but don’t reflect reality.

(Image credit: A24)

We Are Seeing More Realism About War In TV And Film

While not every show or movie about war or veterans of war needs to be completely realistic in all aspects, I get excited when I see that efforts were made. Another movie I appreciated that leaned into realism was American Sniper. There is a scene when Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) notices that a man has a bruised elbow. Veterans can tell you that snipers will lie prone (flat on their stomachs, up on their elbows) for hours, which leads to them having bruised elbows. It’s a specific detail that some might miss, but people who know what it means immediately pick up on. When asked about making the film, Garland shared with CNN:

“It’s an exercise in trying to recreate a real sequence of events as accurately as possible.”
via CNN

(Image credit: A24)

Warfare Is Raw, Real, and Unapologetic

I was blown away by how raw and real Warfare was. Our own Eric Eisenberg tipped his hat to the realism in his Warfare review. The Warfare cast did an incredible job of humanizing how real men react in war. Some were scared, while others kept themselves even-keeled and able to function. They were battered and bruised and didn’t jump back up right away to start killing more bad guys.

As we follow the Navy SEALs of Alpha One on their journey, shit hits the fan, and they have to regroup. Therein lies Warfare’s true brilliance. The reality of war is ugly, scary, and suffocating in a very un-Hollywood way.

(Image credit: A24)

The Sounds In The Film Were Another Layer Of Realism

Warfare’s sound design also influences how the action is handled. We are so accustomed to war movies constantly filling our ears with aggressive noise, but that’s not what this story does. There are points in Warfare where the silence engulfs you, and since you can’t hear anything, you’re filled with dread. The sound mix on this movie was so impactful that I had to remind myself to breathe, especially in an early scene where a grenade goes off and everything goes completely silent. You feel the weight of it all right then and there.

On the other end, there are moments in Warfare that are so loud that you can feel it in your chest. There are two points where a show of force is called in, and when the jets pass over the area, you feel pinned down to your seat. The sound is deafening, and the visual of the sand in the area being completely displaced shows you how powerful the planes are. Of course, there is a lot of gunfire and some tank fire, but it doesn’t go on in the entirety of the movie the way that some war films do. There are also screams from the injured soldiers that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. The portrayal of shock, panic, and pain was gut-wrenching. There wasn’t anything pretty about it.

War is not loud all of the time. An old adage that a friend shared with me summed it up perfectly. It was something like, “warfare is months of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror.” Many war films depict elaborate fighting and constant action. The reality is anything but that. Warfare showed that the team was waiting around for orders. They were taking meticulous notes and watching the area. They were radioing in information and reporting on activity in the area. There was a lot of waiting around. Until all hell breaks loose.

(Image credit: A24)

Warfare Is A Tribute To The Soldiers

Once Warfare was over, I sat for a moment to collect myself. Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, who co-directed and co-directed the film, had done more in 95 minutes for this genre than I thought was possible. It was the closest thing I can imagine to serving, and I think we all need that reminder. This film is visceral and bloody. It sticks with you because it is raw. Garland and Mendoza didn’t go for cheap shock-value gore. They gave us reality. In my opinion, reality is way more intense.

While not everything needs to be hyper-realistic and perfectly accurate, it’s been a long time since we have had a combat-accurate film that shows what soldiers face. These men are not robots; they are uncles, brothers, and husbands. They are any man or woman who went through basic training, put on the uniform, and protected our country. Warfare was made for them.

I also appreciated the way they ended this film. Without any spoilers, it is a very abrupt conclusion, reminding us that there is no storybook ending to war. There’s always a fight going on somewhere in the world, and for those who serve, leaving the combat zone doesn’t always mean leaving the fight.

Before the end credits roll, behind-the-scenes footage shows some of the actual service members the movie is based on. I was so moved by seeing them working with the actors like Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis and the rest of the cast, all of whom were paying close attention to their movements and instructions. You can see the respect between the cast and crew. The final photo of the cast, crew, and soldiers giving the camera the middle finger is somehow heartwarming.