Warfare Review

Ray Mendoza is a war veteran who makes his directional debut with Warfare, a film about his experience serving in the Iraq War.

A platoon of Navy SEALs is assigned a mission to monitor Insurgents and Jihadists in Ramadi and offer support to the Marines. After acquiring a house for the stakeout, enemy forces build up, and the city soon becomes a powder keg.

Mendoza teamed up with Alex Garland to make Warfare, and both share writing and directing credits. Garland is an experienced writer-director who made his own war film in 2025, Civil War. To make the film, Mendoza and Garland interviewed many veterans and forced their actors into a boot camp to ensure accuracy. Garland did offer a name and prestige, and Warfare had the backing of A24 and DNA Films. Garland probably acted more as an advisor and offered support, since Warfare was Mendoza’s baby. Mendoza was no stranger to the entertainment industry because he worked as a stunt coordinator and technical advisor on major films and as a producer on military TV documentaries.

Warfare was deceptively simple. The bulk of the film was told within and around the house, and told in real time. It was about what it would have been like to fight in a modern war. The film aimed to be as authentic as possible as it showed its soldiers talking and joking with each other, letting their training kick in when they were on their mission, to the proverbial hitting the fan. When the soldiers were on their stakeout, it was deliberately mundane as characters talked about things like a missing hoodie and making meticulous notes. Due to the film taking place mostly in a house with a heavy fog of war, and the background of the director, Warfare was similar to the critically acclaimed Israeli film Lebanon.

During the 2010s, there were many war films released that appealed to Middle-American audiences. These included American Sniper, Lone Survivor, 13 Hours, and 12 Strong. There were also anti-war films like Green Zone and Redacted, which were critically diverse because they focused on political messaging. Warfare aimed to counteract both these approaches since it was just focused on the troops. Erik (Will Poulter), the commanding officer, made mistakes and shut down, and the soldiers clashed with each other, which made them more human. Due to Warfare’s political neutrality, it should be able to appeal to most of the political spectrum.

The sense of authenticity was also felt through its sound design. It was a loud film due to all the explosions, gunfire, and fighter jets roaring over the buildings. This loudness was impactful and disorienting, even for experienced soldiers. The scene when an IED went off was particularly impacting because it was so shocking. It was notable that there was no music in the film, except for a music video at the beginning: Warfare didn’t need artificial enhancements to its drama or action. Warfare deserves an Oscar nomination for sound editing.