Think back to 2006. Iraq was at the peak of its conflicts. A horrific sectarian war was raging, and al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent groups, both Sunni and Shia, held sway in substantial areas of the country.

Suicide bombers and IEDs were a daily occurrence targeting both Iraqis and foreign forces, and in cities and towns from Fallujah and Ramadi, to Baqubah and Mosul, US troops were engaged in urban warfare. It was as much about ambush and hit-and-run attacks as about formal battles.

Alex Garland’s new film Warfare is a re-enactment of one of these clashes – the final days of the battle of Ramadi. Garland and his co-director, former US Navy Seal Ray Mendoza, who fought during the engagement, have made much of their desire for authenticity. Their film is based, they say, as accurately as possible on the memories of those involved.

Its aim, they have suggested, is to provide as immersive an experience of combat as possible for audiences with no grasp of the reality of conflict.

In some senses, it succeeds. Warfare is a film that captures the essence of the Iraq of almost 20 years ago, down to minute details including the furnishing of the Iraqi house where much of the action takes place.

The Navy Seal team who are its focus are inserted into Ramadi after dark, occupying several houses to provide sniper support for Marines operating nearby in the city. A sense of mounting risk is brilliantly conveyed. The violence, when it occurs, is unexpected and shocking, for all that it is anticipated.

While the series

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