Co-directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza structured their film around the memories of veterans in Ramadi that day.
Murray Close/A24
War is hell andWarfaredoes its damnedest to honor that old maxim.
Read on as we unpack the real-life inspiration for the film.
Will Poulter in Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s ‘Warfare’.Credit:Murray Close/A24
What isWarfareabout?
Warfareis not a plot-heavy film.
“The story is so simple that it is practically abstract,” said EW’s critic.
Adain Bradley in ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
Men with guns start to congregate.
Any minute now, things are going to go south.
It’s agonizing to watch because you know bloodshed is right around the corner.
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s ‘Warfare’.A24
Yet when it finally comes, it still takes you by surprise."
IsWarfarebased on a true story?
Because Garland’s depiction of this conflict isn’t born from an established timeline or journalistic sources.
What one quickly realizes is that you could’t," Garland explained.
That wasn’t always easy.
“[Sometimes] those memories would clash with each other,” said Garland.
And then we’d have to figure out what the truth was as best we could."
What was the Battle of Ramadi?
The insurgency would give a shot to prevent the combat engineers from setting that up.
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Joseph Quinn, and Will Poulter in ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
And so we just cover them really until they set up concertina wire, sandbag windows and whatnot.
That’s one footprint.
AreWarfare’s characters based on real people?
Michael Gandolfini, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Adain Bradley in ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
They are, though the majority of the real-life soldiers saw their names changed for a variety of reasons.
One soldier whose name remains unchanged is Mendoza, who’s portrayed in the film byReservation Dogsactor Woon-A-Tai.
Another is Elliott Miller, the unit’s medic and head sniper, played byShogunbreakout Cosmo Jarvis.
The cast of ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
The story is not solely about me.
“Hes in a wheelchair and he doesn’t recall what happened.
Weve tried to write it out for him in literary form, but even that’s really confusing.
Joseph Quinn and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai in ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
He’s lacking that, and I’ve always wanted to do that for him.
“This project is bigger than us.
This real-life connection made the film as emotional to shoot as it was exhausting.
Taylor John Smith in ‘Warfare’.Murray Close/A24
“There’s things that I had pushed down and tucked away.
I just didn’t have the tools to deal with that.”
The real-life Elliott, who was also on set during filming, reacted similarly.
“So I called cut, ran off set, and I cried for a good 10 minutes.
And at that point, Alex had to take over the rest of the day.”
Where can I watchWarfare?
Warfareis currently playing in theaters.
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