Written and directed by Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland (Civil War, 28 Days Later), Warfare sticks cinema audiences into the middle of a battle in a way that has not been seen on screen since Black Hawk Down (2001).

Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland script is pretty simple. Give the characters very little knowledge of what’s going on around them and treat the audience the same. There’s no back story in Warfare just a relentless 90 minutes of battle that is terrifying in its realism.

A platoon of American Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission in Iraq (Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley) find themselves in a house surveying the outside neighbourhood. Not long after they’ve forced their way into a family home they discover that their presence is known by local insurgents. Deciding to make a break for it the armoured vehicles send to extract them come under attack leaving members of the group injured or dead and forcing the survivors to retreat back into the house.

What follows is a relentless onslaught of the senses as, and told out in virtually real time, the soldiers have to fight for their survival whilst also dealing with their injured comrades.

As bullets and explosions mix with screams and shouts (see it in a cinema with good sound as the soundtrack puts you right in the heart of the battle) it becomes hard to take your eyes from the screen such is the tension which you could cut with a knife.

Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s film is a masterclass in suspense and drama and easily the best depiction of on screen warfare since the aforementioned Black Hawk Down.

Warfare comes highly recommended. Don’t miss.