Beasts of No Nation

Child actors are a dime a dozen, yet Abraham Attah is something else. He transcends the category and remains such a demanding presence throughout the entire film, matching even Idris Elba's poise. His character's transformation is just one of the remarkable feats of storytelling that Beasts of No Nation graces us. A gripping account of modern day war seen through a child's eyes, Beasts of No Nation is easily one of the best of the year.

The first thing you'll notice is how beautiful the film is. The stark landscapes of West Africa draw you in, and the color palette for the film is quite something. Director and cinematographer Cary Fukunaga makes sure you remember the reality of this not-so-fictional story, paralleling Agu's family life and how his world was flipped upside down when he joined a group of mercenary fighters. Initially, Agu has no choice and uses them as an escape and a way to reunite with his mother, but the ruthless commandant (Elba) changes him.

The writing is fantastic as you see the war through Agu's eyes, and it's not pretty. This kind of situation is almost completely unfamiliar for most audiences, and Fukunaga manages to supplement fear for grace. He never lets us forget the harsh realities of war, touching on familiar themes like family but going a step further by making it personal for Agu. As the film is his story through and through, the adult details of war are kept to a minimum. The audience is just like Agu, unaware of exactly why there is fighting but rolling with it because it's his only choice. There's no strategic battle scenes, no planning on a map or signing peace treaties, as we are thrust into moments just like Agu is.

When the violence does break out, it's brutal and harrowing. Young actor Attah is ferocious yet sympathetic, and he brings these battle sequences down to earth. The creative risks that Fukunaga takes with these sequences might come across as pandering, yet they make sense cinematically and come across as action poetry. There's a certain lyricism to the war torn villages and jungles of the continent, and it's beautiful and unforgettable.

There isn't much dialogue in the film, but when there is it's brilliant. The unnamed commandant's ideology becomes clearer as the film goes on, and it reaches a disturbing peak. Fukunaga contrasts him with the initially innocent Agu and the two are at odds yet retain respect for one another. There are times when Agu could simply point a gun at the commandant and be done with it, but there's a humanity to the film that respects all lives. War isn't pretty, and Beasts of No Nation knows that. Yet this risky piece of entertainment remembers to be a film first and everything else second. The result is a rhythmic work of art with one of the best young performances I've seen.

Greetings again from the darkness. Cary Joji Fukunaga has quickly established himself as an expert storyteller with his previous writing and directing of SIN NOMBRE (2009), JANE EYRE (2011) and the fascinating and conversation-sparking first season of "True Detective" (he did not direct the much-maligned Season Two). He goes even deeper and darker this time by adapting Uzodinma Iweala's novel about a child soldier.

When first we meet Agu, he is but an enterprising and fun-loving kid who thrives on mischief such as trying to sell "Imagination TV" – the empty shell of a console TV, complete with Agu and his buddies acting out scenes for those who peer through the picture tube opening. Agu describes himself as "a good boy from a good family", and we believe him.

Somewhere in Africa is all we know about the location, and soon enough Agu's village is under siege and he is separated from his mother, and forced to stay behind with the men – including his father and big brother. More terror forces Agu alone into the forest until he is brought into a mostly young group of rebel forces led by the Commandant (Idris Elba). It's around this time that Agu begins "talking" to God through voice over narration that allows viewers to understand what's going on inside Agu's head – often quite contrary to what is happening on the outside as he transforms from mischievous kid to dead-eyed child soldier. When Agu stops speaking to God, we understand that he believes he no longer deserves to be heard, but his words to the universe (directed to his mother) let us know, this boy has not yet lost his soul.

Though we never understand the war, or even who is fighting whom, this uncertainty is designed to help us better relate to Agu. He may be a tough-minded soldier, but we also never forget that he is mostly a little boy hoping to re-connect with his mother. Idris Elba plays the Commandant as part father-figure, part war lord, and part cult leader. He is a menacing presence one moment and a soothing voice of reason the next. When we (and Agu) learn the full story of his multiple sides, we are both sickened and disheartened. It's the performances of both Elba and newcomer Abraham Attah (as Agu) that make this such a devastating and fascinating movie to watch, and it's the filmmaking of Fukunaga that keeps our eyes glued to the screen when we would just as soon turn away.

I've heard more than one person say that they can't watch a movie like "Beasts of No Nation." It's a sentiment I understand. After all, who really wants to watch a movie about child soldiers recruited to become killers in savage African civil wars? But these things are happening, and the bare minimum I can if I want to respect myself as a citizen of the world is to watch movies about it, and fictional ones at that. This isn't even a documentary.

And if people can get past the premise, they will find themselves watching a gripping film. A tough one, yes, and one that might make your stomach churn. But it's extremely well made, with excellent performances from child actor Abraham Attah and Idris Elba, as the child protagonist and the leader who recruits him, respectively. This young child experiences a multitude of things, any one of which would permanently scar virtually anyone. And the film doesn't offer a contrived happy-ish ending to reward us for sitting through the suffering, which is one of the things I most appreciated about it. Because let's be honest; is there even a remote chance that stories like the one told here could end happily?

In this year of bickering about the whiteness of the Oscars, this film and its lack of nominations being held up repeatedly as an example, I can at least feel like I did my part -- you don't get much further away from white Hollywood and the stories it likes to tell than this film.

Grade: A-

This is quite simply one of the best war films of the 21st Century. Netflix's first outing on the big screen is a huge success thanks to an absolutely harrowing tale of conflict that makes for one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking movie experiences you've had in a long time.

The story follows this young boy, Agu, as he becomes deeper and deeper involved in the rebel army under the wing of the Commandant, played by Idris Elba. Both of these performances are simply excellent. Elba is often terrifying as the warmongering troop leader, and his unnerving performance is key to making this such an unsettling and disturbing film.

However, even Idris Elba is outshone by the stunning performance given by the young Abraham Attah, who plays Agu. Attah does a brilliant job at showing his character's transformation over the course of the story, from an innocent young boy to a hardened warrior in one of the most brutal wars on the planet.

This ties in perfectly, then, with the main theme of the film, which is all about the way that war destroys innocence entirely and replaces it with only doom and despair. In that, you can see that this is clearly an anti-war film, but it fortunately doesn't present itself so much as that, only giving you its powerful message if you concentrate hard enough and look for the details telling you about the destruction that war has brought to this place.

I say that because this film is, on the whole, not the most fast- paced, and if you watch it with your brain turned off, you'll likely be bored, because it's quite long, and hasn't got much action at all, it's the power and emotion of the underlying themes that provides the horrifying punch that makes this so compelling and upsetting.

Cary Joji Fukunaga's directing is also stunning. As well as making a simply beautiful film to look at, the way he directs every scene works brilliantly in tandem with whatever the film is trying to say. There are so many astonishing long shots of individuals' faces, particularly focused on Agu, and they just have such an incredible emotional power when you really look deep into their situation.

Abraham Attah's performance as a young boy who has clearly been through hell is of course integral to making that emotion clear, but the inventive and beautiful directing really aggrandises that feeling of total despair and loss of innocence, which is why this film is just such an incredible one to watch.

One of the better war movies i saw lately. Really cool cinematography that enhances the beauty of Africa thats being taken for granted. It does a really good job immersing you into the war and make you care about the characters.

Its about a kid who loses his family to war then is forced to join the mercenaries. We watch his transformation from an innocent child into a soldier as he questions his own actions and trying to survive.