WARFARE

Both the writing and direction of this film are credited to Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.  The latter is a former U.S. Navy SEAL and the film is based on his experience of an incident during the Iraq War .

More specifically it's about Mendoza's platoon breaking into a local house to carry out some surveillance in support of a wider military operation.  Unfortunately the house becomes a target for insurgents, and the question is whether the platoon can be rescued.

The film aims for absolute realism so there's no score and events are shown in real-time.  It makes for a thoroughly gripping and tense viewing experience, and at times a terrifying one.

For me the sense that I was watching cinéma vérité was enhanced by the fact that none of the actors were familiar to me, except for Kit Connor from the excellent Netflix series 'Heartstopper' who I somehow failed to recognise (that's military camouflage for you, I guess).

As one example of how nothing here is sugar-coated those men who get badly injured do a lot of screaming out in pain, until morphine is administered.  

There's understandably not much to laugh at in this desperate situation but if you have a dark sense of humour you might enjoy the moment when HQ are informed that the platoon has two men who are severely wounded, and one of those men who overhears this demands to know if he's one of the two.

All in all I found the film to be a moving tribute to the bravery and professionalism of this particular platoon and by extension all military personnel.  The only misstep for me was the music over the closing credits which I found out of keeping with what had come before.

But overall, well worth a watch.