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FILMS / REVIEWS USA / UK

Review: Warfare

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- If you don’t like war, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza will reinforce your logical fears with a tense immersive experience, narrated almost in real time and based on true events

Review: Warfare

While artifice was a hallmark of Alex Garland's previous works (with Men [+see also:
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being a prime example), in his new film, Warfare, the British filmmaker has dispensed with tricks to deliver an immersive experience of war. Following in the wake of films such as Saving Private Ryan, The Darkest Hour, Dunkirk [+see also:
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and 1917 [+see also:
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, it offers a realism so faithful that it may prove too violent for some sensitive viewers, as there is no shying away from the screams, the deafening noise and the gore. Co-directed and co-written with Ray Mendoza, the film arrives in UK cinemas on Friday 18 April, distributed by A24, after premiering in other European markets such as Belgium and Spain.

And who is Ray Mendoza, the reader may ask? He was the military advisor for the battle scenes in Garland's previous feature film, Civil War [+see also:
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, released just a year ago. A former Navy SEAL, who took part in a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006, a mission which he and Garland have now recreated as realistically as possible. So much so that, from the first attack faced by the Americans, chaos and confusion dominate. Only moments of camaraderie shed some light amid all the dust, noise and smoke.

As seen in the closing credits, the film is also a moving tribute to Elliot Miller, a soldier wounded during that mission. His daring evacuation from an apartment building is at the heart of Warfare . With meticulous detail and documentary-like precision, the film reconstructs how a US special operations military unit, together with two marines and two Iraqi scouts, carries out a mission in a dangerous neighbourhood under Al Qaeda control. The objective is to infiltrate and monitor this urban residential area under cover of night, to ensure the safe passage of ground forces through the area the following day. But suddenly, the situation takes a dangerous and deadly turn...

Shot on an enormous set on the outskirts of London, the film stars a committed cast including D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor and Charles Melton, among others. It pushes the viewer to experience 95 immersive minutes of the most terrifying and violent hell. The realism is as visceral as it is authentic, akin to a news report, but with hardly any editing, no voiceover or soundtrack. It is impossible not to be shaken by its harrowing images, its devastating testimony and its thunderous explosions, demonstrating the absurdity and cruelty of any war, regardless of who wins.

Warfare was produced by US company A24 and the UK's DNA Films, Garland's usual production company. Its international sales are also managed by A24.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)

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