Reliving a nightmare in real-time

ALEX GARLAND AND THE TEAM BEHIND WARFARE ON CAPTURING THE MINUTE-BY-MINUTE HORRORS OF CONFLICT

BETH WEBB, KEVIN EG PERRY

IN ALEX GARLAND’S Civil War, a journalistic road trip across a war-torn America climaxes with a military assault through the corridors of the White House. While creating the sequence, Garland sought the advice of former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza, and after the pair hit it off, they began plotting whether they could use the same filmmaking techniques to take audiences inside a real-life battle. The result is Warfare, an intense 90-minute recreation of a harrowing firefight in Iraq in 2006 that Mendoza survived. Here, the co-directors reunite with star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs), who plays Mendoza, to discuss bringing a hyper-realistic depiction of modern warfare to the screen. What was the inspiration for Warfare? Alex Garland: I had an idea, and it didn’t have to be a war film. I…

You're reading a preview of

Empire (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.