Warfareis an upcoming 2025 war movie from A24, and it looks like the perfect spiritual prequel to a $122 million A24 hit from earlier this year. Acclaimed director and writer Alex Garland is teaming up with real-life Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza to tell a story based on Mendoza’s actual experiences in the war, with the duo directing and writing the film together. Thefirst trailer forWarfareis already out, and it is shaping up to be one of A24’s most exciting films in 2025.
WhileWarfareis unique due to Ray Mendoza’s involvement in the film, it actually isn’t the first time that Alex Garland has delved into the war genre. In fact,Alex Garland directed A24’sCivil War, an acclaimed war movie that came out earlier in 2024. Many parallels have already been drawnbetweenWarfareandCivil War, withAlex Garland’s new war movie acting as the perfect spiritual prequel to his 2024 outing.
Warfare Is Showing A Different Side Of War Than Civil War Did
Warfare Is Based On A Real War
One of the reasons whyCivil Warwas so great was its perspective, with it exploring a rarely-seen point-of-view that is integral to the war experience. Rather than focusing on the soldiers,Civil Warfocused on war journalists, withCivil War’s cast of main characters using cameras as their weapons rather than guns.Civil Warexplored the ethics and politics of war journalism, with the film’s fictional civil war being designed to give this message a platform.
Every Alex Garland Actor Who Returns In Civil War
Alex Garland’s 2024 dystopian thriller Civil War features quite a few actors familiar with the filmmaker’s portfolio, having worked with him before.
Alex Garland is now looking at the other side of war with his new film,withWarfarefocusing on soldiers rather than on the war journalists. The first trailer forWarfareshows that the movie will follow a small group of soldiers who are attempting to escape some sort of town in the Iraq War, with the scope ofWarfareseemingly not being much bigger than this.Warfarewill now allow audiences to get Alex Garland’s opinion on another facet of war, with the film dealing with those who actually fight.
Warfare Is A Continuation Of Civil War’s Portrayal Of War
They Both Use A Similar Lens
One of the mostcontroversial parts about A24’sCivil Warwas its handling of the film’s politics. DespiteCivil Warbeing about a fictional war, the film gave very little context about what led up to the war, with it instead dropping viewers into the middle of things. Some audience members weren’t fans of this approach, with many wantingCivil Warto have a much broader scope that explores how the world of the film got to this point.
America’s Sides In Civil War Explained: Who Is “Good” & “Bad”
A24’s Civil War establishes two clear sides of the ongoing conflict, one that fights to uphold the Constitution & another that aims to end democracy.
Warfareseems to be taking a similar approach, with it focusing on only a few soldiers rather than those in power who make the decisions regarding the war. While this may end up being more controversial due to the Iraq War being real, it signals that Alex Garland may be attempting this trick once again inWarfare.
Civil War
Cast
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.
