Warfare, HBO Max

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This isn’t a movie. It’s a nightmare. It is visceral. And painfully horrifying. It is death that permeates this film’s silence, which is used frequently and to great effect.

This film is fear and pain that shouts in artillery and explosions and your friends’ death screams; they are the orchestra. To sit through it is almost unbearable. But then you remember this is a true story, that these boys and men lived it and so you force yourself to watch because all we can offer them is empathy.

Streaming now on HBO Max,Warfare was written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland. The story is Mendoza’s when he was a Navy Seal and takes place in real time and is based on the events and memories of Mendoza and his fellow Seals on November 19, 2006, after the Battle of Ramadi during the Iraq war.

I won’t belittle their sacrifice by pontificating on the propaganda nature of war films in general or the Iraq war and its imperialist motivations. This movie and the men who lived it deserve more from us than to dilute their sacrifice with heady arguments and lofty ideals.

The dialogue is short, staccato-like, spoken in hushed tones, when not screamed; Garland’s hands evident in its realism.

It’s not an easy watch. But it’s a necessary one. If only to remind us of the horrors we have inflicted, and the beauty we are capable of.

The cast is exceptional and includes D’Pharoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Fin Bennett, Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton.

Warfare is a must watch. Five out of five stars.