Interview:
Ray Mendoza,
Alex Garland,
writers/directors,
"Warfare"
After collaborating on a key combat sequence in last year’s Civil War, writer/director Alex Garland asked his military advisor Ray Mendoza if he had any experiences from his time as a Navy SEAL he wanted to depict in a film. They were soon hard at work on Warfare, an Iraq War drama based on the memory of Mendoza and other members of a platoon of Navy SEALs who came under heavy fire during a November 20026 mission in a hostile Ramadi neighborhood. Told in real time, with no fictionalized elements incorporated into the film, Warfare chronicles how the trapped platoon fought back against Iraqi insurgents. Reservation Dogs’ D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai portrays Mendoza, who served as the platoon’s Joint Terminal Attack Controller. Warfare also stars Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis as Elliot Miller, the platoon’s lead sniper and a driving force behind Mendoza’s decision to revisit their shared combat experience for reasons explained at the end of the film. The rest of Warfare’s ensemble cast includes Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Michael Gandolfini, Noah Centieno, and Charles Melton. Warfare opened April 11 in theaters. Novelist-turned-filmmaker Alex Garland previously directed Civil War, Men, Annihilation, and Ex Machina. He also wrote 28 Days Later and the upcoming sequels 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple as well as Dredd, Never Let Me Go, and Sunshine. Navy SEAL veteran Ray Mendoza makes his directorial debut with Warfare after serving as a military or technical advisor on Alex Garland’s Civil War, The Outpost, Mile 22, Jurassic World, Lone Survivor, Act of Valor, and the Chris Pratt Prime Video series The Terminal List. He also produced the TV series The Warfighters, The Selection: Special Operations Experiment, and Live to Tell.
Aired: April 9, 2025. Web sites: https://a24films.com/films/warfare https://www.facebook.com/warfaremovie/ |
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