Warfare (2025) distinguishes itself from many recent high-concept war stories by aiming small and hitting hard. It may not carry the political provocation of Alex Garland’s Civil War, but it leaves you with something far more grounded: a heavy heart, a respect for what it means to be in the fight, and a reminder of the human cost paid in silence long after the guns stop firing.
‘Warfare’ Movie Review
Warfare is the kind of war film that forgoes grandiosity in favor of raw, boots-on-the-ground immediacy, and the result is a lean, harrowing experience that feels startlingly real. Co-directed by Alex Garland and former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, the film comes just a year after Garland’s more polarizing and thematically ambiguous Civil War—a movie that aspired to be a socio-political reckoning but often buckled under the weight of its own ideas. In contrast, Warfare is stripped down and visceral in a way that’s much more effective.
The story is drawn from the real-life memories of Mendoza and fellow Navy SEAL team members, focusing on a botched surveillance mission in Iraq that leaves their unit pinned down, surrounded, and fighting for survival. This isn’t a film interested in making sweeping political commentary or moralizing about warfare. It instead thrives in the details—the disorienting tactics, the clipped military lingo, the razor-thin moments between life and death. There’s a resolute clarity to how Warfare is constructed, and its strength lies in this unflinching simplicity.
Garland’s influence still looms large in the visual language—moody skies, sweeping drone shots, carefully composed chaos—but Warfare is far more restrained than his previous work. Where Civil War occasionally faltered in trying to merge philosophical themes with dystopian aesthetics, this film zeroes in on its mission: to re-create a single day of combat with sobering precision. That precision, no doubt, comes from Mendoza. His contributions are palpable in every frame, from the authenticity of the combat sequences to the grounded emotional resonance in the platoon’s quieter moments. He obviously does far more than just offer additional details for the plot, but you feel in good hands with him as a “fact checker” for what is all taking place in the film.
The ensemble cast is stacked with rising talent—Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Noah Centineo, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton, and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (playing Mendoza himself)—but this isn’t a star vehicle for any one actor. The performances are intentionally modest, reflecting the humility of the soldiers they portray. Their chemistry and cohesion are crucial, forming a believable brotherhood that holds the film together when the bullets start flying and the mission spirals out of control.
What makes Warfare resonate is not just its technical authenticity, but its emotional rigor. The film is unrelenting in its depiction of violence—not stylized or exaggerated, just terrifying in its matter-of-factness. But beyond the firefights, it also considers the toll of war on civilians, communities, and the soldiers themselves, without resorting to melodrama. It doesn’t lecture, it just shows. And that’s what makes it hit harder.
While it may not end up in the awards conversation or be remembered as a definitive war epic, Warfare succeeds where many modern war films fall short: it feels both cinematically arresting and genuinely true to life. Garland and Mendoza have delivered something that bridges two worlds—the aesthetics of cinema and the brutal clarity of experience—with restraint and purpose. It’s not flashy, but it’s deeply affecting.
READ MORE MOVIE REVIEWS: The Alto Knights, Echo Valley, Predator: Killer of Killers
Warfare distinguishes itself from many recent high-concept war stories by aiming small and hitting hard. It may not carry the political provocation of Civil War, but it leaves you with something far more grounded: a heavy heart, a respect for what it means to be in the fight, and a reminder of the human cost paid in silence long after the guns stop firing.
Score: 7/10
Warfare (2025)
- Cast: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton
- Director: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
- Genre: Action, War
- Runtime: 95 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: April 11, 2025
- Movies Like Warfare: Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, Dunkirk, All Quiet on the Western Front, More Movies Like Warfare
Read More Reviews for Alex Garland Movies
Cinephile Corner has reviewed the following Alex Garland movies: