“Who will want to Watch this Movie?”: Warfare Movie Reviews Compilation 

Warfare will soon be in theaters, and reviews for the film are trickling in. While most reviews are praising the neve-before-seen approach to making a war movie, others are questioning the entertainment value of the film. In this artice, we have compiled reviews from major sites. 

What are Reviewers Saying About Warfare?

Jake Coyle from Associated Press said, “Warfare” — despite its broad title — limits itself to one side of a battle.”

But he also wrote, “A year after “Civil War,” a movie predicated on bringing the horror of war home to American soil, Garland has returned with a film even more designed to implode fanciful and far-away ideas of war by bringing it acutely close.”

Joey Magidson, the Editor and Owner of Awards Radar tweeted his mixed reaction to the film:

“Warfare is probably one of the most accurate films ever about modern combat (as well as the loudest), though the lack of real narrative or much in the way of characterization does limit how impactful it can be. Still, it’s incredibly immersive and intense.”

Warfare is probably one of the most accurate films ever about modern combat (as well as the loudest), though the lack of real narrative or much in the way of characterization does limit how impactful it can be. Still, it’s incredibly immersive and intense.@warfaremovie #Warfare pic.twitter.com/fDHscTyk8v

— Joey Magidson (@JoeyMagidson) April 8, 2025

Reuben Baron of Looper wondered if Warfare has any sort of entertainment Value for moviegoers:

“While "Warfare" is successful in showing that war is Hell, the question remains: who will want to watch this movie? It has almost zero entertainment value, which is understandable in light of the dead seriousness of its subject matter, but movies that aren't trying for entertainment have to provide some other sort of insight, and I'm not sure "Warfare" offers enough to be particularly interesting.”

Justin Chang of The New Yorker wrote about the film:

““Warfare” isn’t a bio-pic—it is, you’ll be startled to hear, a war movie—and it cares not a whit for impersonation.”

Perri Nemiroff, a senior producer at Collider, tweeted:

“Undeniably one of the most immersive and visceral war movies I’ve ever seen — and also one that romanticizes war the least.”

Totally overwhelmed by #WARFARE. Undeniably one of the most immersive and visceral war movies I’ve ever seen — and also one that romanticizes war the least. Gripping from the moment it opens, Warfare puts the viewer right smack in the middle of a mission gone wrong. You’re… pic.twitter.com/pegDWmoZOx

— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) March 14, 2025

Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail didn’t find the movie to his liking and wrote:

“Alternately tedious, cacophonous and stultifying, the latest show of force from writer-director Alex Garland following last year’s equally frustrating Civil War just might be the most unnecessarily unpleasant cinematic experience you will endure this year.”

Michael Ordoña of The Wrap praised the film and wrote:

“It aims for utter authenticity, usually shunted aside in favor of what Hollywood thinks viewers want instead — a three-act structure, clear hero and villains, an easily digestible message, spectacular firefights. “Warfare” ignores those expectations in order to create an inescapably inside-the-nightmare, nearly real-time narrative.”

Jordan Hoffman wrote for Entertainment Weekly:

“Warfare (out April 11) is a remarkable cinematic achievement operating at a profoundly compelling level. It's also an incredibly unpleasant affair, and when it was over, it left me thinking, "Well, what the hell was that all about?" If you can respect a movie but also dislike it, this is one such example.”

Kyle Logan of Chicago Reader praised the film for its effectiveness in communicating the mental state of the soldiers. He wrote:

“There is no doubt that Warfare is, to this civilian’s eyes and rattled ears, the most effective any film has been at not only communicating but sharing the mental state of soldiers in warfare.”

Owen Gleiberman of Variety expressed:

“It scrapes every last bit of romantic glamour off the image of combat, and I guess you could say that’s an achievement. But it’s an achievement, in this case, that seems to be saluting itself.”

David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter: 

“Garland is working in peak form and with dazzling technical command in what’s arguably his best film since his debut, Ex Machina.”

Brianna Zigler of AV Club praised the film’s critique of war and wrote:

“In the events recalled for this film, Warfare offers a sobering glimpse into the pointless butchery of human life, and the indifference bred towards it, in the name of blind nationalism.”

Martin Robinson of the London Evening Standard praised the technical brilliance of the film and said: 

“The sheer technical brilliance and strength of performances, cannot fail to connect when you take on the film on its own terms, as pure human experience in the most hellish of circumstances.”

Robbie Collin from Daily Telegraph (UK) wrote:

“It’s necessarily less sweeping than Garland’s recent Civil War, and for all its fire and fury plays as something of a philosophical B-side to that bigger earlier film. I’d certainly be uncomfortable calling it an action movie, even though vast tracts of it are nothing but. It leaves questions ringing in your ears as well as gunfire – and the “what now?”

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian penned:

“The movie is its own show of force in some ways, surely accurate in showing what the soldiers did, moment by moment, though blandly unaware of a point or a meaning beyond the horror."

Clarisse Loughrey of Independent (UK) wrote:

“Alex Garland has now constructed what could be called his trilogy of violence... Warfare, at least, is the most successful of the three, because its myopia is a crucial part of its structure… Warfare is concerned only with the overwhelming, sensory journey that is conflict.”

Siddhant Adlakha of Inverse offered his opinions on the tension and sound of the film:

“Few American war movies have featured the kind of breathtaking tension Warfare instills — or the kind of eardrum-rupturing sound. A harrowing work of cinema whose intuitive (and at times ugly) story is locked in an inherent clash with its own imagery.”

Nerds of Color tweeted this about the movie: 

“#Warfare is raw, honest, & absolutely bone-chilling. The 1st act is uncomfortable at times. Don’t be dissuaded by the trailer, if you were. This does not glorify the war or gloss over the devastating impact it had on the Iraqi people. It’s truly devastating on every level.”

#Warfare is raw, honest, & absolutely bone-chilling. The 1st act is uncomfortable at times. Don’t be dissuaded by the trailer, if you were. This does not glorify the war or gloss over the devastating impact it had on the Iraqi people. It’s truly devastating on every level. pic.twitter.com/dm1SopaD8n

— The Nerds of Color (@TheNerdsofColor) March 13, 2025

Warfare will be released in US theaters on April 11, 2025.