Before we’re plunged into the blood-soaked chaos, there’s a rare moment of euphoria: the young, bright-eyed, ragtag bunch is seen dancing to a pounding club track after hours. But this much-needed release doesn’t last long. Soon, they’re back on the moonlit streets in search of a house, a new base from which to continue their operation. They find one, upend the life of the family within it, and then hunker down, closely observing their surroundings. As we watch local men flit in and out of the viewfinders of their sniper rifles, exchanging significant glances and whispered words, the tension—and our sense of paranoia—builds.
This first half an hour is a total masterclass, one which, with remarkably few theatrics—no dramatic music, sparse dialogue—slowly makes your hair stand on end, and compels you to question everything you see. Then the other shoe drops, and the rest of Warfare is a head-first dive into the abyss as bullets rain, blood flows, and any respite feels increasingly out of reach.
Through it all, the cast is masterful—a supremely talented ensemble featuring what feels like every internet boyfriend on the face of the earth: Will Poulter, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor, Gladiator II’s Joseph Quinn, Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis, Black Doves’s Finn Bennett, Where the Crawdads Sing’s Taylor John Smith, The Many Saints of Newark’s Michael Gandolfini, the To All the Boys franchise’s Noah Centineo, Teen Wolf’s Henry Zaga, Industry’s Adain Bradley, May December’s Charles Melton, and Reservation Dogs breakout D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, in the part of Mendoza himself.
