During the start of the Civil War, in the Arizona Territory, a soldier from each side meet by chance while desperately needing to get somewhere. The friendship they build makes them questions many things.
Written by Ron Yungul and directed by Deborah Correa, The War Between is all about the relationships one can create in adversity while being a slow burn of a war drama set in the Old West. This story here is somewhat interesting to someone like this viewer but will likely find its audience in fans of the genre and of war films in general. It must be noted that this is not an active battle war film, but one about a member of each side meeting in the wilderness by accident and putting their differences aside for the sake of survival. This is more of a drama about two men in the wild than about two men at war. The writing and direction will be really pleasing to those who love this kind of drama and for those who love a slow, slow burn. For those expecting more action, this is not the film where they will find it.
The cast here is mostly just the two leads for most of the film and they do really well with their parts and imbuing their characters with humanity while showing that they each were fighting a war they may not have known enough about. The main lead here is the character of Israel Terry played by Damian Conrad-Davis who does well but is sadly badly lit many times. Suffering a similar fate is Sam Bullington as Moses Jennings, giving a decent performance but some of it being really hard to fully see. The supporting cast here each get a few lines, but not a ton and thus they feel like an afterthought almost.
The cinematography by Evan Jake Cohen has some really good moments, some truly beautiful shots here and there. The issue with the visuals here is the lighting. It is clear that some of the outdoors shots are not lit with much extra light sources or were not planned to account for a shadow or the light not playing well with the characters’ position in the frame. The lighting issue is a bigger one in some scenes and it can become a bit of an issue for anyone paying attention, lovers of good cinematography, and those with lighting training. The issues aren’t throughout and the some of the scenes will make the viewer forget the scenes that do not work visually.
Overall, The War Between is a decent film with some issues in the visual department, in particular in heavy shadow scenes shot outside. The story is slow moving and made for a very specific audience that should love it. Others will likely stop paying attention pretty early on or fight to finish the film. It’s not bad, but it’s also not great.