Beasts of No Nation
"I will always protect you because you are my son. And a son always protects his father." -Commandant
The war drama Beasts of No Nation, adapted from the novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, is written and directed by Cary Fukunaga and stars Idris Elba as the Commandant and Abraham Attah as Agu.
Agu is a young boy living in an unnamed African country where war is rising between the government and the rebels who disagree with their beliefs and laws. Agu, along with his father, mother, baby sister, and older brother, are forced to evacuate their village in order to escape the government military trying to eradicate them. Agu's mother manages to escape with his baby sister in a packed car, but Agu, his brother, and father are stuck in the village. They hide but are found by the military and sentenced to execution. Agu luckily runs away from the military and is found by a rebel group in the jungle led by the Commandant. They save Agu and turn him into a child soldier who kills because he is told to, witnesses the murders and rapes of the innocent, and transforms into the kind of monster that killed his family.
^Wait. What?!?! This kid kills people?!?!^
Beasts of No Nation is very much not for kids. If your kids have access to Netflix, block this film now. Just wanted to get that out of the way in case the killing and raping of innocent people didn't make you do that yet.
Abraham Attah, who plays Agu, was a street vendor who was found by Fukunaga in Ghana. Abraham is by far the best thing about this film. Seeing this boy play a kid who is stripped from literally everything and turning into a child soldier thirsty for blood and pleasing the Commandant is unreal. He played the role as if he had been acting for years now. I would be shocked if he didn't get at least nominated for an Academy Award. You can see his hurt, his happiness, his despair, and his ruthlessness on his face when he's on screen. He is a rising star and one to definitely watch out for in upcoming films.
^Abraham Attah as Agu^
I can't forget about Idris Elba playing the Commandant. Idris, as usual, is excellent. He is an Englishman with a clear British accent, but in Beasts of No Nation he completely nails a, what I think is, Western African accent. Besides that, his portrayal of a despicable rebel group leader is remarkable. As the Commandant, he helps poor Agu after he flees from the military and takes him under his wing. I was optimistic about the character up to the point where he forces Agu to perform oral sex on him. The Commandant treats him like "a son" by "protecting" him. It's clear throughout the film that he is just benefiting off of his battalion.
^What a gross human being. Not Idris Elba, I meant the Commandant!^
The somberness of Beasts of No Nation was the perfect amount for a film about the horrors of being a child soldier. The deterioration of Agu from being in a livable environment, although not completely stable, and having happy childhood moments and then going in a downward spiral into a world of death, depression, crime, and deceitfulness was, for me, an eye-opening experience into the world of war from the perspective of a child.
^Director of Beasts of No Nation Cary Fukunaga (from Oakland!)^
The film does lack a bit of depth in terms of background. I would've liked to see a little more on the rebels motives on why they rape, murder, and tense up situations. I felt like it was never explained to me during the film besides that they do not like the government at all and they'll do whatever it takes to rebel against them. I can understand killing the government military, but what about killing innocent people and raping them? I'm not too familiar with civil wars, but I'm pretty sure everyone has motives on why they do what they do. It just wasn't explained enough in Beasts of No Nation.
I said the somberness of this film was eye-opening for me. I came to realize that after the film however. During the film, I just thought I was watching a well produced snuff film that I wanted to turn off. The message of Beasts of No Nation was effective, but maybe a little too effective. I couldn't stomach some of the stuff that was in the film and because of that, I think it might turn some people off seeing all of this happening to a child.
^Please don't kill, Agu. Just run away and play with some other kids^
Overall, I believe that Beasts of No Nation is a fantastic film that expresses the loss of childhood innocence in a war torn country. A lot of scenes might be too intense to watch, but seeing it through the eyes of Agu is an experience like no other. Watching Agu struggle with being a child soldier makes Beasts of No Nation a film in which the average person, who hasn't had a history of being a child soldier, gains more knowledge of this kind of tragic upbringing.
Pro
- The two leads: Abraham Attah and Idris Elba
- Tone of somberness
- Great storytelling of being a child soldier
- Lacks a bit of background into why they are fighting
- Too much somberness at times
Watch the trailer here
Beasts of No Nation is unrated
Beasts of No Nation is on Netflix and in select theaters now
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