Warfare

Whenever a narrative film comes along that’s critical of war, some critic is bound to trot out this oft-misquoted 1973 soundbite from Francois Truffaut: “I find that violence is very ambiguous in movies. For example, some films claim to be anti-war, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anti-war film. Every film about war ends up being pro-war.”

This time, in response to Ray Mendoza’s and Alex Garland’s harrowing Warfare, that critic — among others — is me. Based on Mendoza’s and his fellow Navy SEAL veterans’ memories of a 2006 Iraq War mission gone horribly wrong, the film walks a tricky line of honoring the soldiers’ sacrifice without excessively criticizing them. And yet the brutally honest recreation of the events inherently questions their decision to volunteer and be part of this deadly machine that shows no sign of slowing down.

While Garland’s collaboration with his Civil War battle sequence designer isn't alone in recent anti-war cinema, it's a significant step up from Edward Berger’s 2022 adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. Unlike Berger’s force-fed homework approach to an obvious but still relevant message, Mendoza and Garland prioritize engaging filmmaking that respects viewer intelligence while tossing them in the middle of an ultimate FUBAR situation.

Truly, there is nothing glamorous about this depiction of U.S. troops commandeering a house and making so much noise in the process that the locals mobilize and descend upon the enemy the following day. It's a frightening situation that, yes, demands laudable bravery and teamwork that the committed ensemble conveys with jarring realism, but at what cost to all involved?

Though Reservoir Dogs perhaps isn’t primarily known as an anti-crime (or anti-undercover-cop) film, the stuck-pig wails of pain, fear, and regret that the severely injured Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) emits in the wake of the movie’s central botched robbery have much in common with the sounds and reactions made by the intensely wounded soldiers here.

The struggle to get them and the entire unit safely evacuated is filmed with breathtaking intimacy and frighteningly authentic sound design (the norm for any Garland film that even his detractors concede). Similar to the technical elements, there are no weak links in the cast. And while Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton are familiar faces, neither they nor their co-stars could reasonably be called the film’s leads.

The flip side of that even distribution and the no-fuss nature of the conflict is that little is revealed about these humans outside of their actions. And those decisions include some extremely questionable treatment of Iraqi characters, including two scouts entrenched with the SEALs.

However, that unsavory side of combat adds yet another layer to Warfare's critical thesis and makes sympathetic viewers question the necessity for the entire predicament, the entire Iraq campaign, and on and on and on to the biggest of big picture quandaries.

If that's not anti-war, what is?

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: A24)