All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: Iraq Veteran Teams Up With Alex Garland on 'Warfare' Film
Date: November 11, 2025

Episode Overview

On this special Veterans Day edition of All Of It, host Alison Stewart explores the realities of war and its cultural representations through film. The main focus is on the new movie Warfare, co-directed by Alex Garland and former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza. The film is a forensic recreation of a real 2006 Navy SEAL mission in Ramadi, Iraq—based strictly on the memories and firsthand experiences of Mendoza and his fellow soldiers. The conversation dives into the ethics of authentic storytelling, the challenges of re-creating trauma, the importance of neutrality, and the responsibility of civilians and filmmakers when representing warfare.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Genesis of 'Warfare'

(03:08 – 04:05)

• Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza met working on Garland's previous film, Civil War, where Ray was praised for his direction of combat scenes and storytelling skills.
• Garland was struck by Mendoza’s wealth of stories and suggested making a feature film that would “forensically recreate combat” and move away from the narrative tropes of traditional war cinema.

Quote:

“I approached him and said, do you want to make a ... movie where we would attempt to sort of forensically recreate combat ... and really just try to make it as true to life as possible.”
— Alex Garland, (03:57)

Mendoza’s Non-Negotiables

(04:10 – 04:36)

• Mendoza’s priority was strict factual accuracy:
  • The film had to be true to what actually happened, as he wanted it to serve as a reference point for a fellow soldier, Elliot, who lost his memory of the event.
  • Creative license was constrained to ensure authenticity.

Quote:

“If it didn’t happen ... I was gonna use this as a visual medium for him ... there wasn’t a lot of creative licensing.”
— Ray Mendoza, (04:15)

The Director’s Role and Collaborative Process

(04:41 – 05:29)

• Garland’s self-assigned role was to remove obstacles between the veterans’ voices and the finished film.
• The team avoided artificial dramatization, music cues, and other cinematic devices that might bias or manipulate the narrative.

Quote:

“My role was to have as few obstacles as possible ... between Ray and his colleagues’ authentic voice and the finished film.”
— Alex Garland, (04:57)

• Mendoza praised Garland’s ability to listen closely, which built trust during the process.

Emotional and Technical Details

(06:25 – 08:36)

• Garland was deeply impacted by specific details, such as Mendoza’s struggle—due to shock and stress—to tie a tourniquet during the chaotic firefight, describing it as “a nightmare, but it really happened.”
• This focus on physical and psychological reality grounds the film in lived experience.

Quote:

“It had, in his description, the quality of a nightmare ... But it’s not a nightmare. It really happened. And it’s something that haunts him.”
— Alex Garland, (07:55)

Coaching Actors & Maintaining Distance

(08:50 – 10:48)

• Mendoza coached Deferowanatai, who played him, focusing on conveying principles like stoicism and stress management rather than rehashing personal trauma.
• He had to “detach” personally, juggling co-direction with emotional distance.

Quote:

“I had to really detach myself and not make it personal and not emotional ... if you’re calm, hopefully calmness spreads through other people.”
— Ray Mendoza, (09:15, 09:33)

Approaching Casting

(10:48 – 12:21)

• The cast features experienced but not necessarily famous actors, chosen for their ability to handle the film’s intense and immersive shoot over 25 days.
• Youthfulness and attitude were key; Mendoza wanted soldiers’ ages to be believable, reflecting the actual youth of those involved in 2006.

Quote:

“The willingness to do what ... Alex was speaking about ... long day, stressful ... shooting in close proximity ... if you’re not comfortable with that, this is not the movie for you.”
— Ray Mendoza, (12:19)

The Weight of Hindsight and Trauma

(13:05 – 14:35)

• Mendoza reflects on the difficulty of revisiting 2006, since the traumatic event marked the end of his youth.
• 20 years later, with greater maturity, he and his peers are able to discuss their emotions and trauma more openly, describing the process as both “closure” and “therapeutic.”

Quote:

“That’s when my youth ... died there and I just started viewing things differently. ... I think hearing how my friends felt on that day was probably, though, therapeutic.”
— Ray Mendoza, (13:35)

Depicting the Iraqi Family and Neutral Storytelling

(14:35 – 18:24)

• Strict adherence to verifiable accounts meant not expanding or dramatizing the representation of the Iraqi civilians.
• The filmmakers intentionally refrained from imposing narratives, agendas, or emotional cues—even excluding music that would manipulate viewer feeling.

Quote:

“What you gain is ... a kind of relationship of trust with the audience, who starts to sense that this is reliable information. Whether they like the information or not, it’s reliable.”
— Alex Garland, (16:53)

The Meaning of “Neutral”

(18:24 – 19:09)

• For Mendoza, neutrality meant presenting the facts without agenda or imposed emotion.
• The filmmakers purposely excluded scoring so as not to “tell you how to feel.”

Quote:

“Not imposing a message or an agenda ... just conveying what happened that day.”
— Ray Mendoza, (18:33)

Sound Design’s Role

(19:09 – 21:27)

• With no music, sound design was central; it aimed to authentically recreate the disorientation, silences, and chaos of battle as relayed by Mendoza.
• Details such as the difference between incoming and outgoing fire were included.

Quote:

“Gunfire can be emotional ... It’s not neutral is not to remove emotional states. It’s to make the emotional states reliable.”
— Alex Garland, (19:36)

Commitment to Veteran Audiences

(21:21 – 23:20)

• Mendoza explicitly intended this film as a reference for fellow veterans, especially Elliot, who lost his memory of the event.
• Authentic sound, setting, and narrative choices were made as a form of honoring and serving the veteran community.

Quote:

“I made it for veterans to show that you’re not forgotten. ... I was hitting those notes that I felt veterans ... could use as a reference to explain their experience.”
— Ray Mendoza, (22:21, 23:11)

Broader Relevance and Responsibility

(23:20 – 25:49)

• Garland pushes back against trying to “sell” the film but frames it as an important addition to our collective understanding of war’s reality—not just about Iraq, but about warfare and its impact across history.
• He challenges civilians, who ultimately make decisions about war, to bear witness to these truths.

Quote:

“This is about ... what we request of soldiers, what they will have to go through. ... Civilians ... it’s a sort of duty to know more than that ... because it’s civilians that make the decision to go to war.”
— Alex Garland, (24:15-25:35)

The Aftermath and Continued Costs of Combat

(25:49 – 26:54)

• Mendoza hopes the film communicates “the cost” of combat and spurs ongoing conversations about the struggles soldiers face after returning home—including mental health and veteran care.

Quote:

“There are people that will answer that call every time, know that when they answer that call there should be ... accountability to ensure that they’re being taken care of.”
— Ray Mendoza, (26:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Alex Garland, on seeking neutrality:

  “I’m interested in the idea of narratives that are honest but neutral ... Because I think it’s very, very difficult to absorb information when you are not in the choir that’s being preached to.” (17:00)

• Ray Mendoza, on why it had to be accurate:

  “If it didn’t happen, [it] wasn’t going in. ... There wasn’t a lot of creative licensing.” (04:15)

• On trauma’s lasting impact:

  “That’s when my youth ... died there and I just started viewing things differently.” — Ray Mendoza (13:35)

• On authenticity and trust:

  “You gain ... a kind of relationship of trust with the audience, who starts to sense that this is reliable information.” — Alex Garland (16:53)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & context: 01:39 – 03:08
• Genesis of project: 03:08
• Mendoza’s boundaries for authenticity: 04:10
• The director’s facilitating role: 04:41
• Trust and process: 05:31
• Importance of details and trauma: 06:25 – 08:36
• Coaching actors and maintaining detachment: 08:50 – 10:48
• Casting the platoon: 10:48 – 12:21
• The emotional cost of revisiting past traumas: 13:05 – 14:35
• Portrayal of Iraqis & neutrality: 14:35 – 18:24
• Sound design and emotional reliability: 19:09 – 21:27
• Production authenticity (location, design): 21:27 – 22:21
• Veterans as audience: 22:21 – 23:20
• Why civilians should care: 23:20 – 25:49
• The burden after combat: 25:49 – 26:54

Tone & Takeaways

This episode is marked by a respectful, earnest tone—balancing Mendoza’s lived experience with Garland’s outsider perspective. Their partnership demonstrates a deep commitment to authenticity and challenges prevailing cultural narratives about war. The conversation centers on bearing honest, unvarnished witness to both the immediate and long-term costs of combat, emphasizing filmmakers’ and society’s responsibilities to those who serve.

For those unable to listen, this summary provides a window into the collaborative dynamics of veteran and civilian storytellers and the ongoing dialogue about how we process and portray war.