From Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s previous collaboration to other gripping cinematic portrayals of modern war, there are plenty of great movies to check out before A24’s new war movie Garland’s dystopian thriller Civil War, the two got to work on a movie that would bring Mendoza’s real warzone experiences to the screen. Warfare chronicles a mission carried out by a platoon of Navy SEALs in real time.
Garland and Mendoza co-directed the film, which allowed Garland to focus on the technical stuff behind the camera while Mendoza handled the actors in front of the camera. By all s, previous Garland productions to watch.
5 Annihilation (2018)
Directed By Alex Garland
Annihilation
- Release Date
- February 23, 2018
- Runtime
- 115 Minutes
- Director
- Alex Garland
Cast
Kola Bokinni
WHERE TO WATCH
Alex Garland's Annihilation is based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. It follows a group of explorers - comprised of biology professor Lena (Natalie Portman), psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson), geomorphologist Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Nvotny), and paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) - as they enter "the Shimmer", a quarantined zone of mutated plants and animals caused by an unknown extra-terrestrial phenomenon. Lena agrees to enter the Shimmer in search of her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), who was sent in as part of a special forces operation.
It might belong to a very different genre, but Garland’s sci-fi horror epic Annihilation seems to have a very similar tone and narrative to Warfare. They’re both about a tightknit group of gun-toting heroes venturing into hostile territory with no one but each other to rely on. In Warfare, that group is a platoon of Navy SEALs fighting in Iraq. In Annihilation, they’re a bunch of scientists wandering into “The Shimmer,” a strange quarantined zone where alien intervention is mutating the plants and animals.
Alex Garland’s New Iraq War Movie Tops Civil War In Its Rotten Tomatoes Score Debut (In More Ways Than One)
Alex Garland's new war movie, which he co-wrote and co-directed with vet Ray Mendoza, has just debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive score.
Annihilation might not have Warfare’s realism, but it does have its intensity. The scene in which a mutated bear torments the scientists by mimicking the voice of their dead friend is as terrifying as any battle scene. The nail-biting tension of Annihilation proves that Garland will nail the horrors of Warfare.
4 The Hurt Locker (2008)
Directed By Kathryn Bigelow
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The Hurt Locker
- Release Date
- July 31, 2009
- Runtime
- 131 minutes
- Director
- Kathryn Bigelow
WHERE TO WATCH
From director Kathryn Bigelow comes The Hurt Locker, the 2008 oscar winning war thriller film that follows Jeremy Renner as Sergeant William James and his bomb disposal team as they navigate beyond enemy lines during the Iraq War. The movie explores the trauma and stresses the soldiers face as they attempt to disarm active explosives on the field, with the repercussions beginning to take their toll on the squates.
While there are plenty of war movies about World War II and the Vietnam War, not many filmmakers are daring enough to tackle modern war in the way Garland and Mendoza have in Warfare. The gold standard for movies about modern warfare is Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Picture-winning gem The Hurt Locker.
The Hurt Locker has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Hurt Locker revolves around a bomb disposal unit being targeted by insurgents in the second year of the Iraq War. The Hurt Locker’s depiction of combat might not be 100% accurate, but its portrayal of the devastating psychological effects of the horrors of war is spot-on.
3 Ex Machina (2014)
Directed By Alex Garland
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Ex Machina
- Release Date
- April 10, 2015
- Runtime
- 108 minutes
- Director
- Alex Garland
Cast
Alicia Vikander
Domhnall Gleeson
WHERE TO WATCH
Young computer programmer Caleb is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment by evaluating the human qualities in a new and improved female artificial intelligence. But in the luxurious, isolated mansion of the man who created this technology, all may not be as it seems.
Garland’s directorial debut, Ex Machina, doesn’t have a lot in common with Warfare, but it was an instant indication of what a great filmmaker he was. Ex Machina is a tense three-hander about the ever-evolving relationship between a low-level computer programmer, his eccentric boss, and the seductive android playing them both against each other. Ex Machina established Garland’s razor-sharp command of cinematic suspense, which would serve him well as co-director of Warfare.
2 Black Hawk Down (2001)
Directed By Ridley Scott
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Black Hawk Down
- Release Date
- January 18, 2002
- Runtime
- 144 minutes
- Director
- Ridley Scott
Cast
Eric Bana
WHERE TO WATCH
Black Hawk Down recounts the harrowing true story of a U.S. military mission gone awry in Somalia. Tasked with capturing a warlord, elite soldiers find themselves in a fierce battle against Somali militia forces.
With Warfare, Garland and Mendoza have set out to create one of the most intense viewing experiences in war movie history. Playing out in real time, it won’t have any superfluous plot points or character arcs; it’s just a 95-minute descent into the hell of war.
Once that helicopter goes down and the troops are stranded in enemy territory, Black Hawk Down becomes a non-stop harrowing of the mayhem of ground-level combat.
Very few movies have been able to pull this off in the past, but one of the most effective efforts is Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. Once that helicopter goes down and the troops are stranded in enemy territory, Black Hawk Down becomes a non-stop harrowing of the mayhem of ground-level combat.
1 Civil War (2024)
Directed By Alex Garland
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Civil War
- Release Date
- April 12, 2024
- Runtime
- 109 Minutes
- Director
- Alex Garland
Cast
Kirsten DunstLee
Wagner MouraJoel
WHERE TO WATCH
Civil War is a 2024 action thriller from writer and director Alex Garland. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Civil War takes place in the near future and shows the United States entering a new Civil War after California and Texas attempt to separate from the country.
The best movie to watch before Warfare would be Garland’s last directorial effort, Civil War. Civil War takes place in a dystopian alternate America that has erupted into an unexplained civil war. The film portrays a nightmarish vision of firefights and bombings on the streets of the United States. It doesn’t explain the political specifics of the war; it portrays the consequences of deep political divisions in the abstract. Not only is it another war movie with a similarly intense style; in many ways, Warfare is a companion piece to Civil War.
What Caused The Civil War In A24's New 2024 Movie?
Alex Garland's new A24 blockbuster Civil War makes a bold cautionary statement about a divided and war-ridden United States under fascist rule.
When Garland was directing the movie, he brought real-life veteran Mendoza on board to make sure its portrayal of warfare was as accurate as possible (even if the war itself was fictional). After forging a strong working relationship on Civil War, the two reunited to take their hauntingly realistic cinematic depiction of the heat of battle to the next level with a movie based on Mendoza’s real experiences in a real war. Warfare is promising to be even more intense than Civil War — and Civil War was already pretty intense.
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Warfare
- Release Date
- April 11, 2025
- Runtime
- 96 minutes
- Director
- Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
Cast
D'Pharaoh Woon-A-TaiRay
Erik
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
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