The similarity between the hellish, cinéma vérité stylized battle scenes of the film and current news and documentary coverage of the Iraq War, is noted by film critic Manohla Dargis, describing Cuarón's fictional landscapes as "war zones of extraordinary plausibility".
A semellanza entre as infernais escenas de batalla de cinéma vérité e a cobertura das novas e documentais sobre a guerra de Iraq é observada polo crítico Manohla Dargis, describindo as paisaxes ficticias de Cuarón como "zonas de guerra de extraordinaria plausibilidade".