‘War’ review: HBO’s delicious legal drama is your next TV obsession

In HBO and Sky’s new legal drama War, battles aren’t fought in muddy trenches or torn-up fields. They’re fought in elegant wood-paneled rooms or glassy offices perched high above London’s streets. But just because these arenas are polished and proper doesn’t mean the fighting is similarly clean. No, the lawyers who make up War‘s two rival firms of Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne are itching to get absolutely filthy.

They get their chance when they take on a high-profile divorce case, unleashing a flurry of betrayal and backstabbing that’s so exquisitely ruthless, it’s sure to make War your next drama obsession.

What’s War about?

The divorce in question is that of movie star Carla Duval (Sienna Miller) and tech magnate Morgan Henderson (Dominic West). She’s a beloved actress whose fame is beginning to wane, while he’s the CEO of a social media platform that keeps rising in prominence. As their fortunes diverge, Carla questions Morgan’s fidelity. She even goes so far as to enlist her friend Flora (Rose Williams) to honeytrap him for proof so she can kickstart the divorce proceedings. It’s the first of several underhanded — and often ill-advised — chess moves War‘s characters make throughout the series, as well as a tantalizingly bitter amuse-bouche for all the delicious drama to come.

Much of that drama comes from Carla and Morgan’s imploding marriage, but their woes are really a gateway to War‘s main draw: Carla and Morgan’s lawyers, who are as relentless as they are petty.

Morgan’s team of choice is Cathcarts & Sons, a storied firm with deep roots in London’s legal scene and even deeper pockets. Partners St. John Smallwood (Pip Torrens) and Beatrice Ubosi (Nina Sosanya) delight in taking down their opponents, discussing Morgan’s case with the calculated relish of a predator playing with its food.

Their food, in this case, is Carla and her firm: the more recently established Taylor & Byrne. Partners in both law and marriage, Nicholas Taylor (James McArdle) and Serena Byrne (Phoebe Fox) hope this case can launch their firm to Cathcarts-level prominence. Winning it would make their name, but losing it would break them financially. With Morgan and Carla’s respective firms in place, the board is set for a nasty divorce, with astronomical stakes for both lawyers and clients.

War turns divorce into an enthralling battleground.

Nina Sosanya, Pip Torrens, and Dominic West in “War.”
Credit: Sky / HBO

As the divorce gets underway, War turns each stage of the proceedings into its own captivating battlefield. During mediation, lawyers shuttle settlement offers back and forth between teams, looking for all the world like messengers trying to negotiate a surrender before the war has even begun. During arbitration, Carla and Morgan’s face-off carries all the explosiveness of a shootout. At each stage, their lawyers regroup to strategize, evaluating their status the way a military leader would evaluate their casualties.

Of course, Carla and Morgan get multiple opportunities to stop and settle, but be it because of greed or pride, they just keep pushing. The same goes for the lawyers. Why would they stop the process early on when they have so much to gain from a high-profile win? Time and again, War‘s character keep making the wrong choices, from Carla and Morgan down to lawyers like the ambitious Johnny Warren (Archie Renaux), caught in the crossfires between Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne. Yet each choice keeps pulling at the truth at War‘s core: that people will go to self-destructive lengths to get what they think they’re owed.

Between Carla and Morgan’s collapsing relationship and their inevitable march to the courtroom, War could easily have been played as a full-on tragedy. Instead, creator George Kay turns it into something darkly funny, full of scathing remarks and playground insults. At one point, St. John and Beatrice share a laugh over how Beatrice ignored Serena, a high school mean girl moment dressed in an expensive suit. Their arch takedowns of Serena and Nicholas turn St. John and Beatrice into the closest thing War has to outright villains, but neither side escapes the trial without blood on their hands. Kay teases out the story in such a way that viewers’ allegiances may flip from Carla to Morgan over the course of an episode, creating a shifty, intoxicating viewing experience.

Because at the end of the day, War is downright fun. Its ensemble is excellent across the board, each scene crackling with incredible performances. Its episodes are among the most propulsive I’ve watched this year, rivaled only by Industry‘s astounding Season 4 run. And even though it loses some of its bite in its final episodes, its sharpness cuts deep. Do your best to pick a side, and head off to War.

War premieres Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.