This war film is one of the best excluded Amazon of 2025: it was directed by a former soldier

News culture This war film is one of the best excluded Amazon of 2025: it was directed by a former soldier

A brutal immersion

Warfare depicts a critical confrontation that occurred on November 19, 2006, just after the bloody battle of Ramadi, a city then declared capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and subject to intense fights between the coalition forces and the insurgents. The story, which takes place in real time, captures every second of the mission with a disturbing loyalty. The scenario, co -written by Mendoza and Garland, is the fruit of in -depth interviews with the members of the Seal commando, each scene having been corroborated by at least two of the soldiers present during the incident. The intrigue follows the Alpha One team of the Navy Seals while it takes control of a two -story house in the dark in order to carry out an essential surveillance for an operation of the American Navies. However, enemy activity is intensifying, and a grenade launched in the sniper’s room triggers a series of catastrophic events that will test the resilience and fraternity of the unit.

In agreement with the spirit of the film, the actors followed intensive training in the handling of weapons. This was so advanced that, if an unexpected occurrence occurred during a scene, the actor concerned immediately knew how to intervene, while his partners continued to play and draw as planned. This type of preparation allowed actors to react in a natural and instinctive way throughout the shooting. The casting brings together recognized talents such as Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor and Charles Melton, whose names of the characters, with the exception of those of Ray Mendoza and Elliott Miller, were modified to protect the identity of the real soldiers.

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A striking film of realism

Distributed by A24, Warfare was greeted by criticism as soon as it was released. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film displays an impressive 93%score, the press agreeing that “Narratively reduced to the bone and endowed with superb cinematographic know-how, Warfare evokes the primal terror of combat with disturbing power”. Several criticisms highlighted the formidable efficiency of the work. Caryn James de la BBC wrote: “Together, the virtuosity of Garland and the first -hand experience of Mendoza create a masterful technical success which is, more importantly, emotionally heartbreaking”. Journalist David Fear of Rolling Stone noted that “Warfare’s only objective is to give you the feeling of what happened. An arduous task, of course, but that Garland, Mendoza, their casting and the team have accomplished with astonishing efficiency”.

Although the film was well received, a few voices, expressed reservations, considering that it was “at best an artistically successful reconstruction; at worst, military propaganda taking place during one of the most flagrant moments of imperialism in the country”. Despite everything, Warfare won the Premio Migliore Regia (Prize for Best Director) at the Taormina Film Festival and was nominated for several other distinctions, including the title of best film at Astra Midseason Movie Awards. With an estimated budget at $ 20 million, the film generated more than $ 32.9 million in the United States. Unfortunately, Warfare has never been released in the cinema in France. French moviegoers wishing to see it will have to be satisfied with Amazon Prime Video.