Warfare

t’s curious how all the prestige around Hollywood war films – lucrative, quasi-recruitment videos and vanity projects for young actors – was punctured by one joke. More than a decade ago, comedian Frankie Boyle said in a set – “Not only will America go to your country and kill all your people – but what’s worse is, 20 years later, they’ll make a movie about how killing your people made their soldiers very sad.” It’s a stinging line that rightfully sullied the stock character of the haunted American war veteran. Especially, when such films didn’t show similar sensitivity towards the broad-stroked, faceless ‘jihadis’ and innocent civilians, whose lives are boiled down to just being ‘collateral damage’ before the eventual triumph of the American military. What was once a sure shot for an Oscar nomination – through films like Saving Private Ryan (1998), Black Hawk Down (2002), The Hurt Locker (2007) – has now become a relatively more introspective and self-reflective genre, with even filmmakers like Michael Bay making an effort to assess the problematic presence of America in a foreign land, without glorifying their soldiers.

After Adolescence’s single take technical brilliance, Warfare’s impeccable sound design, intense storytelling, cinematography and atmospherics will leave you shaken. There is no music, the enemies are barely shown and the entire film is shot at one location. This no-frills innovative approach creates a film so immersive, terrifying and gripping that you want to be evacuated, let alone have popcorn or coffee! Alex Garland’s spectacular war movie can be classified as horror for its edge of the seat, relentless and raw onslaught of terror. He leaves you no room to relax or catch a breath. It strips off the glamour and chest-thumping heroism of war films to give you the real picture. There’s also brotherhood and empathy, surfacing when there’s no expectation. Warfare is a technical masterpiece that never overlooks human emotion and horrors of war. This one’s bound to blow your mind.