Warfare (2025)    A24/Action-Drama    RT: 95 minutes    Rated R (intense war violence and bloody/grisly images, language throughout)    Director: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland    Screenplay: Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland    Music: Simon Astall (supervisor)    Cinematography: David J. Thompson    Release date: April 11, 2025 (US)    Cast: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Aaron Mackenzie, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Charles Melton, Alex Brockdorff, Nathan Altai, Aaron Deakins, Joe Macaulay, Laurie Duncan, Jake Lampert, Henrique Zaga, Tom Dunne, Donya Hussen.

Rating: ***

 The opening titles of the new Iraqi War drama Warfare inform us that it’s based on the memories of those who lived it. It’s one of those boots-on-the-ground deals that drop the viewer right into the thick of the chaos and bloodshed with little-to-nothing in the way of exposition. It’s told in real time in a matter-of-factly way. It doesn’t hold back at all, not even in the slightest. It’s a numbing, exhausting experience that will leave many viewers feeling physically and mentally drained. This isn’t necessarily praise; it’s more of a warning.

 Warfare is based on the experiences of co-director Ray Mendoza, a former Navy SEAL who survived something harrowing in November 2006. He was part of a unit ordered to provide ground cover for a team of Marines on a mission near the end of the Battle of Ramadi. Their job is to monitor a marketplace, a hub of possible terrorist activity, across the street from the dwelling they’re hunkered down in. Their presence is known to their targets who try to neutralize them with a grenade. The team’s subsequent effort to evacuate is thwarted by an IED that leaves a couple of the guys with serious, life-threatening injuries. They need to get out of there quickly, but the higher-ups back at command make it difficult because of the usual bureaucratic BS.

 That’s really all there is storywise to Warfare. Mendoza and co-director Alex Garland (Civil War) devote no time to the usual trappings of the genre. We don’t get any gung ho heroics, displays of patriotism or inspirational speeches. We don’t even get a good look at the enemy outside of a few quick glimpses of them talking on phones or firing from neighboring rooftops. Warfare is not an action movie in the traditional sense. It’s not an action movie at all, in fact. It’s a recounting of a horrific skirmish that certainly left most (if not all) of the participants with severe PTSD.

 Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure if Warfare should be called a movie. It’s not what I’d call entertaining. Once you get past the opening sequence of the soldiers cheering on an aerobics video from the 80s, it’s right down to business starting with the soldiers taking over the domicile of two frightened families. That’s the part that sticks with me the most. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to be held captive in my own home while military forces destroy the place with gunfire and explosions. It doesn’t appear to bother the soldiers either. But I get that. They’re just doing their job.

 I try not to let movies get to me, but it was unavoidable in Warfare. More than once, I felt overwhelmed by all the noise and confusion from people shouting and gunfire and frenzied activity. It’s a full-on assault on the senses. I thought about running to the safety of the lobby, but decided against it as the soldiers involved in the actual incident didn’t have that luxury. I stuck it out and while I’m not sorry I did, I felt too drained to formulate a coherent opinion of the film I just saw. I definitely can’t say that I liked it. I didn’t. It’s like being in a nightmare. It’s traumatizing. I can honestly say I never want to see it again. However, I do admire it. I especially admire Mendoza’s courage in confronting and dealing with his trauma. Warfare is a purging of the psyche, an attempt to exorcise the demons plaguing him since the war. On that level, it’s effective.

 You notice that I haven’t commented on the acting yet. I originally wasn’t going to because Warfare isn’t really about acting or performance. The actors do a fine job, all of them. They work as a unit rather than individuals. We never learn any personal information on any of the characters. They exist only in that moment. What may have happened to them before is irrelevant. Their only function is to get through a terrifying experience by working together. Having the actors operate like soldiers adds to the movie’s sense of realism.

 In the end, I’m not sure if I can recommend Warfare. It’s not a bad film; it’s one that’s hard to take. Its intentions are good. I love that it ends with a salute to the real-life soldiers depicted in the movie. Their blurred-out photos are juxtaposed with the actors who portrayed them. It’s dedicated to one of the soldiers who died. I have loads of respect for our troops; God bless those who served. If you ever wanted to understand what they went through over there, Warfare is as close as you’ll ever get.