By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Alex Barland | Ray Mendoza
Starring: Aaron Mackenzie | Alex Brockdorff | Cosmo Jarvis | D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai | Joseph Quinn
Year: 2025
Running time: 95
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434639/reference/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_warfare
Diane says: “WARFARE is a recreated 2006 incident from the Iraq War, involving a group of mostly Navy SEALS. Co-director Ray Mendoza (along with Alex Garland) was part of the platoon. They used the testimony of platoon members to write the screenplay.
“Much of the story happens in real time, and it is, of course, excruciating.
“The platoon is sent into a residence to provide sniper overwatch, in support of a Marines operation in the area. The move is executed flawlessly, with few words, and clear roles. You can tell that this is a team that is well-trained.
“Once inside, our view is limited to their view (the set and camerawork are very good)–they are spread out on 2 or 3 floors of the building, with limited interaction. The communications officer receives occasional scans of the surrounding streets, which we see on his laptop.
“Despite some early teasing between platoon members, it’s grim. The SEALS hustle the resident family into a safe room, and the sniper’s face streams with sweat due to his uncomfortable position and intense concentration. Then things turn terribly bad.<
“The professionalism of the SEALS, the difficult decisions made, the priority to save the lives of their own men, but mostly, the pointlessness of war on a human scale is what I saw in this movie.
“I’m still thinking about this film two weeks later. 5 cats.”
Laks responds: “Yes Diane! I was chewing over this film for the past month as well and you review alligns with a lot of what I was thinking about as well.”