“Warfare” is an upcoming film that embeds audiences with a platoon of Navy SEALs in the home of an Iraqi family, as they provide overwatch for U.S. forces through insurgent territory. A visceral story of modern warfare, the film aims to portray combat as it is remembered by those who survived it.
Written and directed by Navy SEAL veteran Ray Mendoza and “Civil War” director Alex Garland, the film was personal for Mendoza, who based it on a mission he participated in during the Iraq War. The story hinges on the relationship between Mendoza and Elliott Miller, a SEAL who served with Mendoza, and who, during the mission, sustained significant injuries and now, cannot remember the attack at all.
“It’s just a love letter from Ray to Elliot,” shared Charles Melton, one of the actors in the film. In a behind-the-scenes video of the making of “Warfare,” the actors reflected on the “overwhelming sense of responsibility” to get the movie right. “This will be one of the most important and poignant things we’ll ever do,” observed actor Will Poulter.
WATCH THIS BEHIND-THE-SCENES EXCLUSIVE:
Mendoza joined the Navy in 1997 and served for over 16 years as a member of SEAL Team 5 and a Land Warfare Training Detachment and BUD/s instructor. He was introduced to filmmaking while performing in “Act of Valor” and went on to work as a Military Advisor on Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor.” After working with Garland on “Civil War,” the two decided to team up to tell the story Mendoza had been thinking about for nearly twenty years.
“I have one opportunity to tell it right, to get it right, and to honor the people that were there,” stated Mendoza. To get that done, he put the actors who would be portraying the SEALs through a three-week bootcamp, including physical fitness, sensory overload, replete with gunfire and explosions, weapons training, and combat tactics.
Check out the theatrical trailer for “Warfare” from A24 Films ahead of its release on April 11, 2025.
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