Alex Garland’s Best Movies & Why ‘Warfare’ Should Be on Your Watch-List
Alex Garland is one of the most interesting and innovative writers and directors in Hollywood, putting together some of the best films in the past few decades, with everything from science-fiction adventures to gritty war films falling within his wheelhouse. With the acclaimed creator’s next entry, Warfare, hitting cinemas on 11 April, we’ve rounded up 5 of the best Garland movies to check out:
Dredd
Many may not know this, but Alex Garland was actually responsible for 2012’s reboot of Judge Dredd. Initially being directed by Pete Travis, Garland (who was writing and producing) took over the directing duties when Travis fell out of the project and helped weave the best iteration of the beloved comic book hero. Dredd is a grimy take on the futuristic, dystopian story, starring Karl Urban as Dredd, who has to work his way through an extremely dangerous building full of the worst of the worst. It’s slick, violent, brutal, and is exactly what the Judge Dredd IP needed.
Sunshine
Sunshine is one of Garland’s best works, and for good reason. Directed by his longtime collaborator Danny Boyle (who worked on 28 Days Later with Garland), Sunshine tells the story of a group of scientists who travel to the sun in order to reignite and save a dying Earth. Starring an ensemble cast featuring Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Chipo Chung, and Mark Strong, the film explores psychological and physical horror. It is beautifully shot and features some of the best set and costume design around, including the craziest space-suit design ever seen on film. On top of all of that, haunting and beautiful score also sets the scene for what is a fantastic sci-fi movie.
Ex Machina
Garland decided to write and direct his 2014 standout hit, Ex Machina, exploring the relationship between man and machine. It’s visually stunning, extremely well written, and stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac. The story revolves around a programmer who is invited by his CEO to administer the Turing test to an intelligent humanoid robot. The film received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won Best Visual Effects. The film’s other nominations include five British Academy Film Awards, three Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (winning one), and a Golden Globe Award.
Annihilation
A lot has been said about Annihilation; it was widely acclaimed as an excellent sci-fi thriller that combines terror and taut suspense effectively, but somehow, it seems like a ton of people still haven’t seen the eerie Netflix original. The story is clever and well-told, but one of the criticisms (which may be a positive in the eyes of some) is the interwoven symbolism scattered throughout the movie that uses the backdrop of the sci-fi story as an exploration of the complex relationship between the protagonist Lena (Natalie Portman) and her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac). Either way you want to analyse the movie – whether a creepy horror or psychosocial relationship deconstruction – Annihilation is an interesting and unique watch, whatever its faults may be. It also features arguably the most horrifying movie animal-turned-monster in years.
Civil War
Civil War is likely the closest thing to Warfare, telling the story of an all-out battle across North America between two rival sides. Spider-Man‘s Kirsten Dunst plays a reporter chronicling the events, with Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman also starring. It’s harrowing, scarily realistic, and explores the polarisation and the extreme political rhetoric that’s intended to make us believe the other side is evil.
Get ready for war
Directed by actual war veteran Ray Mendoza alongside Garland, Warfare is based on Mendoza’s experiences during the Iraq War as a former U.S. Navy SEAL. The film follows, in real-time, a platoon of Navy SEALs on a mission through insurgent territory in 2006, and stars Will Poulter (Guardians of the Galaxy), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Fantastic Four), Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun), Kit Connor, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Finn Bennett.
It’s hitting South African cinemas nationwide on 11 April, and you can check out the trailer below:
