Warfare is a Realistic Depiction of War that Will Leave You Terrified

I had seen Warfare on the big screen, and wow, it was one of the few theater experiences I will never forget. It was the last day to watch this film before it was taken away from cinemas, and I had the whole theater to myself that morning.

I do tend to talk to myself when I’m freaking out during a movie, but only if I’m the only one in the theater lol.

I ended up doing plenty of that during the entire film.

This movie broke me.

We follow a true story of what a group of soldiers endured in war. And damn, this is by far the rawest form of war I have seen in a film. I like how the film did not focus on a full-on action story like some war films tend to do. This one only focused on one location throughout the whole movie.

The soldiers are fighting in another country against an army, and they take refuge in the home of a family.

I absolutely could not stand the family parts, because you felt so horrible for them. The soldiers were trying to calm them down in so many scenes, but how can you stay calm, knowing that these soldiers are the reason why war is being brought to your doorstep?

The soldier group is split in half, and the first set of troops go through absolute hell. They lose two of their soldiers to a bomb, and the rest of them are left severely injured or in shock. They call for backup, in order to save the lives of two soldiers who received horrible injuries.

I could not stand listening to the screams of Sam’s character, played by Joseph Quinn.

I’ve been a huge fan of his work since Stranger Things, but damn, his acting in this film felt way too real. Listening to his screams of agony as his fellow soldiers try to stop the bleeding on his legs was difficult to sit through. I kept looking away from the screen, and I felt so tensed up.

His character literally screams for the rest of the film, and damn, that was fantastic acting. His screams were absolutely haunting, and I could feel his pain through his cries. It's rare for me to experience that kind of agony, and I hated every second of it.

And when I saw the injuries he sustained on his legs from the bomb, I struggled to get through the film after that. The practical effects were phenomenal, but wow, was it hard to look at.

There was also another soldier who had received horrible injuries similar to his, and I couldn't imagine the pain they were both feeling. The fact that they had been alive through all of the pain was so surreal.

I kept on hoping that the soldiers would somehow survive this horrible ordeal, and somehow, they are able to escape. They are able to call for two tanks to arrive to their location, and they leave the area, saving the two injured soldiers as well.

The film ends with the family grateful that the soldiers are now gone from their home, and the people they were fighting all step out of their locations in the city, wandering the streets once the soldiers leave.

It was a powerful and realistic way to end this film, and I think this is one of the best non horror films I have seen this year.

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn