Warfare (2025)
Warfare
Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland. That’s it. That’s the review. I’m just kidding, I’m writing more. It’s gonna be hard to word what I want to say, because this was such an impactful film. Not that I’ve ever had any kind of military experience or knowledge, but this is a story that can impact anyone. There’s a whole big aspect of arguing whether it’s American propaganda or if it has an anti-war message, but I won’t get into that. Just see the film and make up your mind for yourself. I’m only reviewing the critical aspects. The film is based on the true events that happened in 2006, and the story taken from the memories of the men who were there. You’re thrown right into the middle of the situation, and for 95 minutes, it’s you and the Bravo company, stuck in the small house in Iraq. It’s one of the most anxiety inducing, stressful war films I’ve ever seen. From the beginning to the end, it was a constant rush of sad thoughts and disturbing visuals. Which sounds super depressing (because it was), but it was strangely enlightening. And the tension was also built a lot on suspense rather than straight up action. The emotion from the talented and relatable cast seeps through. The best thing the film does is display how even the American soldiers don’t understand what’s happening or reasons behind decisions. The cinematography was flawless, and a big surprise. Usually with these war films, everything is very shaky and constantly jumping around. While that’s the case occasionally, it’s still very well shot in terms of centralizing characters and key elements. The full 95 minutes were extremely stunning, both positively and negatively (in a positive way). The action was well executed (sorry, that’s a horrible pun), but above all, the number one takeaway was the sound design. Holy crap. Between the artillery, the gunfire, the screaming, the machines, the transportation, everything. Without the sound design that this has, there is no film. Props to those who worked on this. A24 strikes again with another haunting, gut-wrenching, and hollowing piece of work. God bless our troops. I’d recommend this to all action/thriller fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!