One of the best war movies of the modern era has now exploded onto streaming and has quickly clambered its way to the tippy top of the charts. While the movie, which was released in theaters back in April, was met with widespread critical acclaim, it struggled to find an audience. Thankfully, that’s all changed thanks to the popular platform HBO Max.
Written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, Warfare is based on the true story of U.S. Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza and his experiences during the Iraq War. The war outing features an all-star cast that includes D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mendoza, alongside Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton, and now holds a hugely impressive rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warfare has now taken the top spot on HBO Max, leading the pack against the likes of Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd’s warped comedy Friendship, the Jonah Hill-led comedy The Sitter, horror outings The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and Seven, Ridley Scott’s divisive sci-fi epic Prometheus, and the failed Western comic book adaptation Jonah Hex. You can check out the official synopsis for Warfare below…
Written and directed by Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland (Civil War, 28 Days Later), Warfare embeds audiences with a platoon of American Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission gone wrong in insurgent territory. A visceral, boots-on-the-ground story of modern warfare and brotherhood, told like never before: in real time and based on the memory of the people who lived it.
‘Warfare’ Is Now Finding the Success It Deserves Thanks to Streaming
Sadly, not nearly enough people saw Warfare in theaters, with the movie grossing just $33.6 million at the worldwide box office. However, it was met with glowing praise from both critics and audiences alike, and is now nothing less than one of the best war movies ever made. Turning to Rotten Tomatoes for an overview, Warfare was “awarded” the same score by both groups. Thus, Warfare now holds a “Certified Fresh” score of 93% from critics and a “Verified Hot” score of 93% from audiences on the Popcornmeter.
MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman declared Warfare to be “A Visceral Cinematic Experience” and praised the war outing for being “bloody, brutal, and terrifying,” as well as expertly dropping audiences into one of the most realistic depictions of warfare ever put to screen.
“Warfare is a visceral cinematic experience that gets granular in every regard. Mendoza and Garland aren’t trying to entertain via a three-act structure. The operation is the film from start to finish. There’s very little exposition identifying the characters and expressly stating the mission objectives. We’re watching them logistically communicate with each other, support personnel, and aircraft in near real time. It’s all business when their lives are at stake. There’s no jocularity or idle conversation. Everyone has something to do.”
Warfare
4
/5
- Release Date
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April 11, 2025
- Runtime
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96 minutes
- Producers
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Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald, Matthew Penry-Davey
