Warfare has many great qualities but, above all else, it’s to be admired for its simplicity.  Shot in real-time, it depicts a 90-minute confrontation on 19 November 2006 between U.S. Navy SEALS and al-Qaeda insurgents in the city of Ramadi.  There’s no background to the characters, no footage of mission control, no information about the Iraq War, and no cliched scenes of soldiers showing photos of their loved ones.

After a memorable opening scene (love the random song choice), we get to the crux of the movie. Navy SEALS have infiltrated the home of an Iraqi family and intend to use it as a surveillance base, but they are soon discovered by locals and come under heavy fire.  Two soldiers are severely injured and the focus of the team is on finding a means of escape, which won’t be easy given insurgents are targeting them from all sides, and ensuring every SEAL makes it out alive.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more different duo than the filmmaking team of Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.  Garland has been in the business for over two decades.  He started as a novelist (The Beach), transitioned into screenwriting (28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go), and then became a director (Ex Machina, Civil War).  Mendoza has never made a movie before, but he does bring rather important IP to the project.  He was one of the Navy SEALS who fought in the actual battle!

What they’ve achieved together is impressive.  Mendoza understands war, Garland understands cinema, and they’ve teamed up to create a gritty, powerful war flick.  Mendoza worked closely with the actors, who went through a rigorous boot camp prior to the shoot, to recreate events as precisely as possible.  He wanted this to be authentic.  Garland makes great use of close-up cinematography and sounds (sometimes intense, sometimes muffled) to have us feel like we’re beside the characters as they try to stay calm in an increasingly fraught situation.

Further, I can’t think of another movie in recent memory where a soldier’s injuries have been covered in such detail.  When a gravely wounded SEAL is screaming relentlessly for several minutes, and you see blood and fluid oozing from open wounds… yeah, that’ll have an impact on audiences.  Deep breaths will be required.  I’d argue it’s more gruesome than the average horror film.

Void of politics, Warfare provides a reminder of the risks military folks face, regardless of who they’re fighting for, and the courage required when missions go bad.  A movie you will not soon forget.