The following contains spoilers for Warfare, now playing in theatersWarfare‘s perfectly abrupt ending is a fitting finale for the grounded military movie. Co-directed by Alex Garland and Navy SEAL veteran Ray Mendoza, Warfare is a very realistic retelling of a battle that Mendoza experienced while stationed in Iraq in 2006. As part of the second Gult War, the film’s platoon of Navy SEALs find themselves stationed deep in insurgent territory when a sudden attack turns a tense day into a firefight. The rest of the film is spent on the single battle, keeping the focus тιԍнтly on the soldiers caught in the situation.

Warfare is an intense film that never loses sight of the soldiers at the heart of the story. While this means the film doesn’t necessarily have a lot to say about the state of the world at large, it does highlight the humanity that can often be overshadowed by the chaos of armed conflict. Warfare benefits greatly from this grounded and realistic presentation as well as Alex Garland’s experience with Civil War, especially because the film is so rooted in telling a story based on real life.

What Happens To Elliot & Sam In Warfare?

Elliot And Sam Are Both Very Injured In Warfare But Don’t Die

Elliot and Sam are severely wounded in Warfare, but both are successfully evacuated from the battlefield and survive. Much of Warfare is spent on a single block in the insurgent territory of Iraq during the waning days of the months-long Battle of Ramadi. After a grenade forces the American soldiers to arrange a retreat, an IED ends up destroying their convoy. The two Iraqi soldiers working alongside the Americans are killed in the blast, while Elliot and Sam are grievously injured. Retreating into the house and holding out until reinforcements arrive, the other SEALs are able to stabilize both men.

Much of Warfare‘s tension is rooted in the fates of Elliot and Sam. While both men are very hurt, Sam is at least conscious and able to communicate with his squad mates. Elliot spends a good chunk of Warfare‘s second half unconscious, only awakening after more of the battle has commenced. However, thanks to the timely arrival of Jake’s soldiers and the subsequent evac transport, the SEALs get both men to safety. The film ends with a montage of the real corpsmen who inspired Warfare, confirming that both men survived their injuries.

Why Erik Steps Down As The Group’s Leader

Erik Is Introduced As The Platoon Leader, But Is Left Too Shaken To Command

For the first half of Warfare, the group is led by the Officer in Charge, Erik. He’s presented as a capable leader during the initial sequences of the film, and takes charge when they come under fire. However, Erik is among the soldiers rocked by the IED. Although he doesn’t suffer from the same kind of injuries that befall Elliot and Sam, it’s clear the blast knocked him off his axis and has left him dazed and incapable of taking charge. When ᴀssistant Officer in Charge Jake arrives on the scene, Erik reliqushes command to him.

It’s a quietly effective moment, with Will Poulter’s performance infusing Erik with a deeply shaken vibe in these scenes that carry him through the rest of the film. Erik is commendable for recognizing he’s took shaken to effectively lead, allowing his compatriot to take charge in a dangerous situation. It also means that Erik gets a chance to briefly stay with the overwhelmed civilian family whose home they’ve commandeered, giving those otherwise nameless characters a chance to lash out at the soldiers for dragging their family directly into their conflict.

Why Warfare Ends So Abruptly

Warfare Concludes With The Platoon’s Retreat

Warfare is focused on the events of a single mission for a platoon of Navy SEALs during wartime, playing out in real time and without the kind of edits and cuts that typically dominate films about the military. The film ends with the platoon making their retreat and the local insurgents stepping out of their positions to inspect the damage. It’s a sudden ending for the movie, but a fitting one for the subject matter. Just as the battle suddenly began with a grenade and then suddenly escalated with an IED, the battle comes to an inglorious and abrupt end.

Much as in real life, wartime conflicts don’t come with mᴀssive duels or bombastic acts of self-sacrifice. These battles can end just as quickly as they begin, an aspect of military service that underscores the tension in the film’s first act while the soldiers monitor the locals. Battlefields can erupt anywhere, with the ebbs and flows of a firefight shifting quickly and with little warning. Warfare is designed as a realistic approximation of what actual combat looks, sounds, and feels like. In that sense, Warfare‘s abrupt ending makes perfect sense in the context of the film.

What Happened To The Navy SEALs After Warfare In Real Life?

The Real Life Inspiration For Warfare, Explained

Warfare is based on true events, with each of the SEALs who appear in the film based on a real soldier. A montage after the climax of the film shows the cast alongside their respective inspirations. Most of the soldiers were renamed, however, with only JTAC/Platoon Communicator Ray Mendoza and Corpsman/Lead Sniper Elliot Miller using their full names in the script. The real-life Mendoza is actually the co-writer and co-director of the film with Alex Garland. It was their commitment to ensuring that Warfare came with a level of authenticity that led to the film.

While the film doesn’t fully address the fates of every Navy SEAL who was in the battle, a few of them were confirmed either during the montage or the Warfare Q&A attended by members of the cast, crew, and veterans. Joe Hildebrand, the inspiration for Sam, survived the conflict and attended the Q&A alongside Elliot. Elliot also survived, although he requires a wheelchair and an AAC device to communicate. The rest of the SEALs don’t have their fates explained, although Mendoza mentioned at the Q&A that he remains in contact and on good terms with the rest of the platoon.

The True Meaning Of Warfare

Warfare Is About The People In A Conflict, Not About The Conflict Itself

Warfare doesn’t offer much overt commentary about the politics of the second Gulf War or the motivations behind the local population. The insurgents aren’t demonized, instead portrayed bluntly as an opposing force that ends up in a firefight with the Navy SEALs. On many levels, the film is solely about representing a real-life event as accurately as the filmmakers could manage. The true meaning of the film is to highlight the humanity of the soldiers caught in the firefight. Sometimes, that’s the uncertainty that hits Erik or the fear and pain that drives Sam’s pleas for more morphine.

Other times, it’s simple human fallacies of McDonald accidentally administering morphine to himself instead of Elliot. However, it can also be moments of shock and empathy or courage and bravado in the face of danger. Warfare is about the Navy SEALs not as lionized heroes or metaphors for American expansion but as regular men who find themselves in an extreme situation. Those small slices of life are the core of Warfare, highlighting how beneath every suit of body armor is a person. Warfare is a painfully real war movie, and that was the entire point behind the production.