Following on from the dystopian Civil War, writer and director Alex Garland takes us to Iraq circa 2006, with a heavy dose of real world combat.
How to watch Warfare in the UK
Warfare is screening in UK cinemas from April 18, 2025.
What is Warfare about?
Co-written and co-directed by former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, who was a technical advisor on Civil War, Warfare is simply the story of a battle. Based on Mendoza’s own experiences, along with that of his comrades, it plunges us deeply and disorientatingly into the thick of the fray, as a mission goes wrong and a platoon of SEALs find themselves besieged by Iraqi insurgents, with help a long time in coming.
The parallels with Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down are clear, but nothing else is in this frenetic frenzy of tactical combat except the immediate action. We’re forced as viewers to pick up moments of character on the fly. Whether that’s a plus or a minus is up for debate, though.
The cast of Warfare
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, familiar from the excellent Reservation Dogs, is radio operator Ray Mendoza; Will “eyebrows” Poulter is Erik, the Officer in Charge; Shōgun‘s Cosmo Jarvis is corpsman and lead sniper Elliot Miller; Joseph Quinn is Petty Officer Sam; Kit Connor is Tommy; Finn Bennett is John; Taylor John Smith is Frank, another sniper; Michael Gandolfini is LT McDonald; Adain Bradley is Sgt. Laerrus; Noah Centineo is Brian; Evan Holtzman is Brock, yet another sniper; Henry Zaga is Aaron; Charles Melton is Jake, Assistant Officer in Charge; Alex Brockdorff is Mikey; Nathan Altai is Farid; Aaron Deakins is Bob; and Donya Hussen is Noor.
All else aside, that’s an impressive roster of some of the most talented young actors working today. If you can keep track of the names in all the on screen chaos, you’re doing better than us.
Warfare trailer
Why we’re excited about Warfare
As a technical exercise, Warfare is superb. But whether there’s enough story here to sustain interest is deeply subjective. However, if you’re into this sort of thing, this is definitely the sort of thing you’re into.
