The Mosquito Bowl Opens October 30: Cast, Release Date and What Critics Are Saying

Peter Berg’s World War II drama The Mosquito Bowl opens in select U.S. theaters on Friday, October 30, and arrives on Netflix on November 25, according to Variety. The theatrical run includes select AMC locations and is the first Netflix and AMC partnership since KPop Demon Hunters, per Variety. The film is adapted from Buzz Bissinger’s 2022 book The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.

The True Story Behind the Film

The story follows four of America’s top college football players who enlist in the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In December 1944, Marines from the 4th and 29th regiments of the 6th Marine Division met for a football game on Guadalcanal before shipping out to Okinawa, Army Times reports. Fifteen of the 65 players who took part were killed in the campaign that followed, according to the same report.

Nicholas Galitzine plays John McLaughry, Bill Skarsgård is Bob Bauman, Ray Nicholson is Tony Butkovich and Tom Francis is Dave Schreiner, per Army Times. The ensemble also includes Brent Comer, Pat McAfee and Berg himself, according to Deadline and Fox News. Berg wrote the screenplay with The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith and produced with Brian Grazer and Alex Gayner of Imagine Entertainment, per Deadline.

The film reunites Berg with Bissinger, his cousin, and with composers Explosions in the Sky, all of whom worked on Friday Night Lights, according to Variety and Toy People. TV Sorrisi e Canzoni reports the production filmed in Australia, in Queensland and northern New South Wales, using real explosions and fire and limiting stunt doubles. Collider lists the runtime at 127 minutes, and Netflix’s latest trailer is a red-band cut that MovieWeb describes as R-rated.

What Berg Wants the Film to Say

Berg told ChurchLeaders the film is meant to help younger generations understand the sacrifices of service members and the realities of war. “This is an anti-war film,” he said. Berg’s next feature is the Call of Duty movie, per High on Films.

First Reviews Are Divided

The Mosquito Bowl had its world premiere at AFI Fest on October 22, per The Hollywood Reporter, which also reported Netflix plans an awards campaign for the film and its craft team. Screen Rant describes the first reviews as divided, with praise for the battle sequences and sound work.

Deadline’s Pete Hammond was strongly positive, calling it one of the most effective anti-war films he has seen and crediting Berg for avoiding preaching or flag-waving. Others were more measured. The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han found the craft admirable but the storytelling short of what the material needs, and IndieWire’s David Ehrlich gave it a C, arguing the film leans more on Hollywood’s idea of war than on its reality and leaves its characters thin, per Rotten Tomatoes. Next Best Picture’s Matt Neglia reported mixed results, praising the technical work while finding the four leads underdeveloped, according to Screen Rant.

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