Warfare (2025)

I said I’ll get this post out soon and I did, sort of. Today I got off late from work so I couldn’t go to the 6pm class at the gym since, by 6:12pm, I had just finished with my last patient for the day in Barstow. Even though the day ran a little long, I felt good about the work I did and was reminded of the parts of this job that I find rewarding. Today’s appointments were all on setups for respiratory equipment, CPAPs and Non-Invasive ventilators (NIVs). My patients today were mostly older women, with the exception of one young child. In regards to my adult patients, I spent longer than usual trying to demonstrate and instruct them on their NIV as they of course had many questions and unfortunately did not have the luxury of a relative or a dedicated caregiver to assist. These women ultimately got the hang of things and were motivated, one even outwardly excited, to use the NIV. This sort of response, unfortunately, has not happened for a while and understandably so. Far too often, the sales execs at my job would push for such equipment, going off such little test results. They say they’ll call the patient to discuss the doctor’s prescription and schedule the appointment, but that usually doesn’t happen. So I often go to the prospective patient’s address, unannounced, and explain to them why I’m there and what the doctor has prescribed them. Surprisingly, the doctor’s usually never inform the patients, so they are usually hearing the news for the first time from me. Naturally, most people become distraught, overwhelmed, and or angry while I do what I can to “save the order”. In these situations, I’m upfront with patients as to how our system of overnight testing can lead to the order for equipment. I inform them that these are doctor’s orders, but I can’t force them to go through with it if they refuse. To save face with the sales staff (the one role that the company treats better than the actual respiratory therapists), I tell the more hesitant patients that they can try the equipment for a month and request pickup if they don’t see any benefit or it otherwise doesn’t work out. Apparently one month is the minimum amount of time that such a delivery counts so sales can get their commission. All this to say that recent experiences with these kinds of appointments have resulted in overwhelmed and disappointed patients that I often don’t see again, since many will have had their equipment picked up. Today felt more like I was actually helping people instead of just making number go up. Having each of my patients today ask me where they can call to tell my superiors how much of a good job I did was nice as well. Praise is not necessarily important to me in this job, but it did warm my heart to hear their kind words and how they’ll look forward to our follow-up appointments. 

Moving on to our main topic, I saw Warfare (2025) on Sunday 4/13/25 at the Cinemark 16 theater in Victorville. I went to the earliest showtime on offer, 10:55am. Aside from myself, there were a few young couples in the auditorium as well as older solo viewers. Interestingly enough, this may have been the first screening I’ve been to this year where no one had their phone out during the movie, which is kind of sad to be honest. Most of the trailers that played I've seen before, but some new ones did crop up. I saw the trailer for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025). I’ve never seen any of the Mission Impossible movies, but at least one of my friends tells me that the more recent ones are very well-made action flicks. I thought the film’s subtitle was pretty funny for how stereotypical it sounded, but the sequences where it showed Tom Cruise on the wing of a plane looked pretty cool. Friendship (2025) is a comedy distributed by A24 that stars Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd. Most of the people in my friend group enjoy Tim’s work on the Netflix sketch show, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019-). I haven’t seen the show, but the trailer for Friendship looked to be a good watch. Lastly I saw a trailer for another horror movie distributed by A24, Bring Her Back (2025). To be honest I kind of forgot that I saw the trailer in the theater, but the movie is the next directorial project from the Philippou brothers of Talk to Me (2022) fame, so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for when it releases. 

Warfare is a war film written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland. The movie takes place during the Iraq War and follows a platoon of US Navy Seals meant to provide overwatch in the home of an Iraqi family when they encounter insurgent forces. The movie is actually based on an actual experience Mendoza and his platoon had during the war. The opening text in the movie states that the movie’s material is taken from the testimonies of Mendoza’s fellow platoon members before presenting the events in real time. The movie features an ensemble cast representing the real life platoon members, albeit most with alternate aliases as many did not wish to go public with their identities. The only characters in the movie without aliases are the depiction of Mendoza himself and Elliot Miller, a platoon member who was severely injured in battle and who the film is dedicated to. 

When I first heard that A24 was going to distribute an honest to god war film I was skeptical. Sure Alex Garland’s Civil War released last year, but from what friends have told me, it is not really a war film in the “traditional sense”. Particularly since Warfare takes place in the Iraq War, I worried that we would’ve been back to Bush-Era pro-war propaganda. To elaborate, I was concerned that this movie could potentially glamorize a “recent” conflict in US history and enshroud it in myth for a new audience like with films centered around the United States’ involvement in WWII for example. That fortunately isn’t the case here (for the most part) as Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s goal with Warfare is to try to depict conflict as realistically as possible and I feel that it succeeds. 

To begin with, the sound design in this film is phenomenal. The foley effects of soldiers moving and adjusting their equipment sounds meticulously detailed. Background noise during quieter moments, such as radio chatter and the bustling streets of Ramadi, Iraq effectively set the scene and setting. Furthermore, sound effects such as explosions, the rumbling of US land vehicles, and the flight of jets are so punchy, commanding, and loud that they can serve as jump scares. The sound design ultimately serves to create an atmosphere that is equal parts unnervingly calm & tense as well as terrifying. Another aspect of the sound direction in Warfare that I appreciate is the lack of a soundtrack. With the exception of one scene in the opening of the film, there is no use of licensed music or even a composed score. This helps to achieve realism by not having the depiction of real-life events be cheapened by music. In addition, the audience can take in the movie for what it is and make their own takeaways rather than potentially being emotionally manipulated by a sweeping score. 

Another strength of this film that I feel contributes to its sense of realism is the aforementioned ensemble cast. Many actors who I’m not really familiar with, but have recently been appearing in many projects, star in this film, including D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai as Ray Mendoza and Cosmo Jarvis as Elliot Miller. Will Poulter, who plays an officer in charge of the platoon, is the actor whose work I was most familiar with. I initially thought his character would have the most focus, but to my pleasant surprise I felt that no one actor stood out in this film, intentionally. I feel that each member in the ensemble did well at performing as a collective, which works to the movie’s goal of realism as we see comrades in arms working together as one unit. I don’t mean that to say that characters in this movie are indistinguishable from each other, just that I feel no one actor’s screen presence dominates a scene and takes away from the squad dynamic.     

This next statement may sound contradictory so bear with me. I appreciate that the movie does not seem to be expressly and obviously pushing a message and lets the viewer craft their own takeaway, but I also feel like this could be a negative against the film. I’m not Ray Mendoza, Elliot Miller, or the other members of the Navy SEAL platoon depicted in this film, so I can’t speak to their experience or the intricacies of Mendoza and Garland’s intentions with this film. I can speculate that Mendoza wished to honor his comrades and memorialize the intense experience they went through, but I feel that’s about all I can write without putting words into his and Garland’s mouth. I have my own biases towards the outbreak of war and the role of the US military on the world stage in particular, so I can only offer my personal takeaway from this film. I do feel that this film is not pro-war. I believe that the movie does not glamorize the Iraq War and the soldiers that fought in it, rather combat in this film is depicted as unbridled chaos that’s ultimately futile. You can try to rein it in, but eventually sense of duty, objective, and perhaps even patriotism become less important as the need to just survive takes hold. I appreciate that the movie humanizes the plight of civilians caught in the exploits of the US military. The movie mostly takes place in the home of an Iraqi family that the platoon commandeers for their mission and I’m glad that the film does not obfuscate them or worse, render them as inconsequential to the events depicted. Furthermore, without getting too into spoilers, as the battle drags on and soldiers start to become injured, we see exchanges between the platoon members and those of another squad that join in to help that, in my opinion, immediately and effectively rejects the toxic jingoism that’s comically stereotypical for US military personnel. However, I feel that the film sort of undermines my takeaway with a final sequence removed from the events of the film (that’s the most I can say without spoilers). I felt that the sequence had enough of a mythologizing effect to punctuate the film with that I worry some will walk away from Warfare with a warped sense of nationalism, waxing lyrical about the Iraq War and perhaps eager for the next time the US military invades another country. 

All that said, I’m gonna give Warfare a BEST MOVIE EVER. The film made for an intense viewing experience and I feel that the goals of realism were well achieved. I’m curious if you’ll have a takeaway similar to mine or have felt I may have misinterpreted aspects of the film. I’m not sure what my next movie post will be on, but stay tuned nonetheless I guess. Have a good night.