Brad Pitt Goes to Afghanistan in Netflix's War Machine

War is hell, except when it’s purgatory.

General Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt) is good at war. At the start of David Michôd’s War Machine, McMahon’s just been assigned to fix the one in Afghanistan, using his years of expertise to bring an end to a seemingly intractable conflict. But the types of war he’s dealt with in the past bear little resemblance to what’s going on in Afghanistan.

Indeed, the US War in Afghanistan—a 15-year-plus conflict that’s still going on today—is as purgatory-like as wars come. It’s the longest war America has ever been involved in, but most people are probably still a little foggy on the details.