Warfare

This film is vehemently anti-war, and I'm shocked to see others so opposed to the idea that it is. It is an unflinching, horror movie that does not seek to string together a narrative, or get inside the brains of these soldiers, or even explain what they are doing. It's showing war - and specifically an American war in Middle East - for what it was: wrong.

The narrative pretence of simply wanting to show a continuous hour and a half of what these men went through, I think, is an inspired choice. It really emphasises the pointlessness of why these men were deployed in Iraq. For the first half of the film, they're occupying a home, sitting, surveilling, not knowing what they're looking for - this is a far cry from the glorification of war done by Call of Duty and the likes.

You are just existing with these men who have occupied a home because a soldier "liked the look" of it. The blase attitudes of these men carrying out random tasks, is immediately contrasted with a full on assault to the ears.

The film becomes this oppressive and unrelenting horror which showcases the ugly, horrific side to war that is often shied away from or dramatized to the point where it's easy to remove yourself from what's happening.

Not here. This was visceral and uncomfortable to watch, and it had me tearing up in moments with how much it was affecting me. In large part thanks to the sound design which is harrowing. The wailing which permeates most of the second half of the film, the use of silence and muffled noise, it's placing you in the home with these men and showing you it's not a place you want to be.

I truly liked their decision to abstract the characterisation of these soldiers and instead make it feel like you were watching real people - often young boyish men - experiencing the horrors first hand. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is phenomenal and commands the screen and Joseph Quinn truly has a hard task of making you feel physically uncomfortable but does so so well.

Given that this film is from the memories of these soldiers and Ray Mendoza, I think this authentic and genuine approach to this film is really special as it's as close to a narrative depiction of what happened. I understand people who want to know more about the Iraqi people who suffered this war and so many other wars, that story must be heard, but it doesn't invalidate this film.

The narrative may not have focused on the Iraqi family whose house was taken over, but Mendoza chose not to do this. This is his recount of the situation, and a perspective which does show the damage done by the Americans, it's just from their view.

The last moments of this film I think encapsulate the pointlessness of this war. There's also a moment in this which I think is quite explicit in how the Americans viewed Iraqi lives, which is heartbreaking but sadly it's real.

I really found this profound. The gritty oppressive filmmaking on show here is wonderful and demystifies the allure of war. If nothing else the contrast between the opening and closing scenes is so powerful and I really struggle to understand how people don't view this as a shock to the system and will leave you with a single word ringing in your ears