# War on Everyone
*War on Everyone* is a 2016 black-comedy crime film written and directed by [John Michael McDonagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-michael-mcdonagh), his third feature after *The Guard* (2011) and *Calvary* (2014). It follows two corrupt [Albuquerque, New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/albuquerque-new-mexico) detectives, Terry Monroe ([Alexander Skarsgård](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-skarsgard)) and Bob Bolaño (Michael Peña), who blackmail criminals until they cross a villain more dangerous than themselves.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/michael-pena-john-michael-mcdonagh-war-everyone) • [2](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/war-on-everyone-84633/) The film premiered in the Panorama section of the 2016 Berlinale and later screened at SXSW and the Zurich Film Festival.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | John Michael McDonagh, his third feature after *The Guard* (2011) and *Calvary* (2014)[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/michael-pena-john-michael-mcdonagh-war-everyone) |
| Setting | Albuquerque, New Mexico, conceived as a "contemporary Western"[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/michael-pena-john-michael-mcdonagh-war-everyone) • [4](https://www.theaureview.com/watch/sxsw-interview-john-michael-mcdonagh-talks-about-his-new-film-war-on-everyone/) |
| Lead cast | Alexander Skarsgård as Terry Monroe, Michael Peña as Bob Bolaño, Theo James as Lord James Mangan, Tessa Thompson as Jackie Hollis[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/) |
| Festival premiere | Berlinale 2016 (Panorama); also SXSW 2016 and Zurich Film Festival 2016[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/) |
| Production | Reprisal Films, Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology; cinematography by Bobby Bukowski; music by Lorne Balfe; 98 minutes[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/) |
| Reception | 61% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (96 reviews) and 38% audience score; Metascore 50 from 21 critic reviews[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Terry Monroe and Bob Bolaño are corrupt detectives who make money by blackmailing and framing the criminals working their patch in Albuquerque; they extort gangsters, take drugs, and beat suspects without compunction.[2](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/war-on-everyone-84633/) • [7](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/) When they try to shake down strip-club manager Russell Birdwell ([Caleb Landry Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/caleb-landry-jones)), they come up against the upper-class British criminal Lord James Mangan ([Theo James](https://www.edgepedia.org/theo-james)), who after a robbery has his eye on the same prey.[8](https://www.iconfilm.com.au/movies/war-on-everyone) • [3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/) The crime plot, involving monetary theft, double-crossing, and eventually a child-pornography ring, leads the pair toward an unlikely redemption when they put themselves on the line for an innocent person.[7](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/) • [8](https://www.iconfilm.com.au/movies/war-on-everyone)
The two leads are drawn as opposites. Terry is an alcoholic devoted to the country singer [Glen Campbell](https://www.edgepedia.org/glen-campbell); Bob is a closeted intellectual who quotes figures such as [Simone de Beauvoir](https://www.edgepedia.org/simone-de-beauvoir) and loves his wife and kids.[8](https://www.iconfilm.com.au/movies/war-on-everyone) • [9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/war-on-everyone-review-puerile-tone-deaf-and-offensively-stupid-1.2817937) [The Village Voice](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-village-voice)'s Kenji Fujishima noted that the duo's loyalty to each other and to their actual and surrogate families gives the film a redemptive thread despite the characters' amorality.[7](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/)
## Development and production
McDonagh began talking about the script after the release of *The Guard*, which grossed more than $20 million worldwide, and before *Calvary* (2014) appeared; that earlier film won nine awards and received another 22 nominations on the festival circuit and from critics groups.[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm) The project was announced while he was in development with London-based Reprisal Films, the company he runs with producer Chris Clark, as a bigger-budget US-set dark comedy about a pair of corrupt cops.[11](https://www.screendaily.com/production/reprisal-films-unveils-ambitious-new-slate-of-mcdonagh-projects/5033488.article)
**Finding the setting.** The script was first set in London, then reworked for Ireland and Dublin, but McDonagh said it never felt right in those places; because people kept telling him *The Guard* and *Calvary* were Westerns, he decided to set the next film in the American Southwest as a contemporary Western.[4](https://www.theaureview.com/watch/sxsw-interview-john-michael-mcdonagh-talks-about-his-new-film-war-on-everyone/) He chose [New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-mexico) over Texas partly for its tax breaks.[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm) McDonagh described his aim plainly: "I wanted to tell a funny story about two corrupt cops and have the audience be on their side."[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm)
Financing was not difficult once the cast was attached, McDonagh said, because his previous two films had succeeded internationally.[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm) The production shot in Albuquerque from April 15, with [Garrett Hedlund](https://www.edgepedia.org/garrett-hedlund), Guy Pearce, Michael Peña, and [Tessa Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tessa-thompson) listed among the cast, and was produced by Reprisal Films.[2](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/war-on-everyone-84633/) McDonagh said the shoot was harder on personnel than his Irish films: "I fired three people – I never fired anyone on the two films I made in Ireland."[12](https://www.filmink.com.au/john-michael-mcdonagh-calling-the-shots-on-war-on-everyone/)
**Style.** McDonagh created a stylized world, paring down environments and splashing them with singular bright colors, and the photography carries a 1970s vibe heightened by his fondness for wipe edits.[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm) • [13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/09/war-on-everyone-review-cops-alexander-skarsgard-michael-pena) He used Glen Campbell songs on the soundtrack, saying Campbell "represents a melancholy '70s existentialist mood."[10](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm) The dialogue mixes highbrow and lowbrow cultural references, with shout-outs to Simone de Beauvoir, Sergei Diaghilev, and [Yukio Mishima](https://www.edgepedia.org/yukio-mishima) alongside crude insults.[7](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/)
## Release
The film premiered at the 2016 Berlinale in the Panorama section and went on to screen at SXSW.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/) • [14](https://www.screendaily.com/distribution/saban-films-closing-in-on-war-on-everyone/5103792.article) [Saban Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/saban-films) acquired North American rights, while Sony Pictures Worldwide took multiple territories and Icon Film Distribution took the UK, Republic of Ireland, and Australia/New Zealand.[14](https://www.screendaily.com/distribution/saban-films-closing-in-on-war-on-everyone/5103792.article) In the United States it opened February 3, 2017 at Cinema Village, distributed by Saban Films, with a streaming release on March 30, 2017.[7](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone) The film received an R rating for pervasive language, drug use, sexuality/nudity, and violence.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone)
## Critical reception
Reception was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 61% Tomatometer from 96 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it "a somewhat middling entry" that has "just enough dark humor and infectious energy"; the audience Popcornmeter score is 38%.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 50 from 21 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews, with 7 positive, 10 mixed, and 4 negative.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/)
Some critics responded warmly. Variety's Peter Debruge wrote that McDonagh "writes his clever, coal-black heart out, delivering another firecracker script," and Empire called it "a thinking person's Bad Boys."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/) The Guardian's Wendy Ide called it "bitingly funny and unapologetically offensive," praising the 1970s-inflected photography.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/09/war-on-everyone-review-cops-alexander-skarsgard-michael-pena) Others were harsh: [The Irish Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-irish-times)'s Tara Brady called the film "puerile, tone-deaf and offensively stupid," criticizing its treatment of female characters and its use of homosexuality as a punchline, and arguing it "isn't half as clever as it thinks it is."[9](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/war-on-everyone-review-puerile-tone-deaf-and-offensively-stupid-1.2817937) [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) gave it a C+, calling it "crass, senseless, and relentlessly talky."[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone) A recurring criticism was that the film's flood of gags overwhelmed its story; Total Film described it as "100 gags in search of a storyline."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/)
## References
1. [Michael Peña and John Michael McDonagh on corrupt cop comedy War on Everyone, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/michael-pena-john-michael-mcdonagh-war-everyone)
2. [War On Everyone – Production Listing, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/resources/detail/productionlisting/war-on-everyone-84633/)
3. [War on Everyone, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/303327/)
4. [SXSW Interview: John Michael McDonagh talks about his new film War On Everyone, The AU Review](https://www.theaureview.com/watch/sxsw-interview-john-michael-mcdonagh-talks-about-his-new-film-war-on-everyone/)
5. [War on Everyone, Metacritic (details page)](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/war-on-everyone/)
6. [War on Everyone, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_on_everyone)
7. [Bad Cops Quip Joyously Through John Michael McDonagh's 'War on Everyone', The Village Voice](https://www.villagevoice.com/bad-cops-quip-joyously-through-john-michael-mcdonaghs-war-on-everyone/)
8. [War on Everyone, Icon Film](https://www.iconfilm.com.au/movies/war-on-everyone)
9. [War on Everyone review: puerile, tone-deaf and offensively stupid, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/war-on-everyone-review-puerile-tone-deaf-and-offensively-stupid-1.2817937)
10. [Interview with John Michael McDonagh, Director, Female.com.au](https://www.female.com.au/john-micahel-mcdonagh-war-on-everyone.htm)
11. [Reprisal Films unveils ambitious new slate of McDonagh projects, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/production/reprisal-films-unveils-ambitious-new-slate-of-mcdonagh-projects/5033488.article)
12. [John Michael McDonagh: Calling the Shots on War on Everyone, FilmInk](https://www.filmink.com.au/john-michael-mcdonagh-calling-the-shots-on-war-on-everyone/)
13. [War on Everyone review – cops behaving badly, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/09/war-on-everyone-review-cops-alexander-skarsgard-michael-pena)
14. [Saban Films closing in on 'War On Everyone', Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/distribution/saban-films-closing-in-on-war-on-everyone/5103792.article)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2015 to 2016 › Titles K to Z*
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